


And yet here you are

by Codango



Series: Those goddamn Karasuno boys [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst and Humor, Blood and Injury, College, Cooking, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Funny, Height Differences, M/M, Making Out, Minor Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Secret Crush, Self-Discovery, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Slow Burn, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:57:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codango/pseuds/Codango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His classmate rolled her eyes. “Of course Nishinoya-kun asked you to come over tonight.”</p><p>Asahi blinked. “Well… he found a training video of the Japanese Olympic team, and he wants to—”</p><p>The girl stood with an exasperated sigh. “He knows when the athletic department’s mixer is. It’s only been plastered on every message board across campus for two weeks.”</p><p>“Maybe… maybe he just doesn’t want to go?” Asahi tried. He had the definite impression he was supposed to know why she was annoyed. Unfortunately — and not uncommonly — he was just confused.</p><p>“You mean he just doesn’t want you to go,” she muttered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His classmate rolled her eyes. “Of _course_ Nishinoya-kun asked you to come over tonight.”

Asahi blinked. “Well… he found a training video of the Japanese Olympic team, and he wants to—”

The girl stood with an exasperated sigh. “He knows when the athletic department’s mixer is. It’s only been plastered on every message board across campus for two weeks.”

“Maybe… maybe he just doesn’t want to go?” Asahi tried. He had the definite impression he was supposed to know why she was annoyed. Unfortunately — and not uncommonly — he was just confused.

“You mean he just doesn’t want _you_ to go,” she muttered. She threw her bag over her shoulder. “Never mind. Maybe warn Nishinoya-kun about the wave of hate mail he’s going to get tomorrow. I’ve had a few people ask me specifically if you’ll be there.”

Asahi stood quickly, grabbing his own bag. “Hate mail? Why would he get—?”

“You know what?” His classmate paused in the computer lab’s doorway, digging in her bag. She pulled out a marker pen and threw it at him. Asahi didn’t have time to be pleased that he caught it. “If that little libero doesn’t literally write his name on your forehead sometime soon, I will not be held responsible for the actions of all my cockblocked friends. See you in class.”

“Ah! Ah, Hiyori-san! Your pen—!”

But the door closed behind her.

Asahi stared at it. Then stared at the pen in his hand.

Clearly, he wasn’t getting something.

* * *

 

“Noya…”

“Mm?” The short young man didn’t look up from his laptop.

Asahi was lounging on his old friend’s couch, waiting for him to pull up the Olympic training video he’d found. _You’ve_ got _to see this jump serve, Asahi-san, it’s unreal! And the libero can_ return _it! I’ve never seen anything like it, you_ have _to…_

And so here he was. In Nishinoya’s apartment instead of at the unofficial mixer for the entire athletic department. He felt a little bit bad about that. He had told Hiyori he’d be there when she said she was organizing it. But he kind of sucked at parties anyway, and if Nishinoya was going to be here watching a video, the party wasn’t going to be that much fun anyway.

“Noya,” he tried again.

“It’s buffering, sorry.” Nishinoya set the laptop on the coffee table and climbed up on the couch. He sat cross-legged, something Asahi could never manage comfortably on furniture. “What’s up?”

“Um… did you not want to go to Hiyori’s party tonight?” Asahi asked. It wasn’t his real question, but the real question seemed… stupid.

“Meh.” Nishinoya shrugged narrow shoulders. “It could have been fun, I guess. Wait.” He looked at Asahi sharply. “Did you want to go?”

“Ah. Well?” Asahi pretended to focus on the laptop. “I sort of promised Hiyori I would. She seemed a little pissed today when I told her we were doing this instead.”

Nishinoya narrowed his eyes. Without taking his eyes off of Asahi, he hit pause on the video. “Uh huh.” He leaned back against the couch and folded his arms across his chest.

“Uh. Are we not watching the video?”

“Sounds like we’re talking about this first,” Nishinoya said, a note in his voice Asahi couldn’t quite place. “What do you mean, she was pissed?”

“Well, as pissed as she ever gets about anything.” Asahi shrugged. “I guess she told some of her friends I’d be there? I mean, she might not like telling them one thing and then it not working out. Or something.”

“Hiyori specifically wanted you there, is that what you’re telling me?”

“I don’t think she cares if I do anything,” Asahi said quickly. “It’s just she kind of told—”

“So she’s trying to hook you up with somebody,” Nishinoya said flatly.

“Look, she didn’t say anything like that!” Asahi wiped a hand over his face. “Augh, nobody said anything to me about wanting me there or not, I guess I just wanted to make sure you definitely didn’t want to go, so I thought I’d ask.”

Nishinoya raised an eyebrow. The expression coupled with his spiky black-and-bleached hair conjured an image in Asahi’s mind of a very suspicious elf. “All right.” He reached over and shut the laptop. “Get your coat.”

“Wait, what?” Asahi sat up in surprise. “I wasn’t saying… this is fine!”

“Nothing doing.” Nishinoya slipped his arms into his leather coat. It was new. Well, kind of. A high-school graduation present. Asahi still tried not to be jealous whenever he saw it. It was a really cool look. Nishinoya flashed one of his signature cocky grins, which _of course_ turned the whole image up to eleven. “Sounds like someone’s trying to get in your pants, Asahi-san. What kind of friend would I be if I kept you here tonight?”

“N- _Noyaaaa!!!_ ”

* * *

 

“Well, well, look who decided to show the fuck up after all?” Hiyori leered at Asahi, beer in hand.

Asahi held up his hands in embarrassed surrender. Nishinoya had made him walk through the door first, the traitor.

“Heard someone was waiting for him.”

Asahi made an embarrassingly startled sound as Nishinoya pushed under his arm to get through the doorway. “Didn’t realize I was keeping him from getting some,” he added with a smirk.

“Noya, will you _knock it off?_ ” Asahi hissed. Steam was coming out of his ears, he just knew it.

Hiyori blinked at Nishinoya, all spiky-haired and wiry and a little… belligerent, strutting into the house. “Now I am surprised to see _you_ here,” she said. “You decided to let him out for an evening?”

“Why, Hiyori.” Nishinoya draped an arm over the girl’s shoulders. It shouldn’t have been an easy gesture for him, Asahi thought, given that Hiyori was the captain of the girl’s volleyball team and Nishinoya was the libero of the men’s team. A talented libero, of course, but still. Every bit as short as he’d been in high school. Still, he made it look effortless. _Everything Noya does looks effortless._ Asahi frowned.

“Hiyori,” Nishinoya continued, “sometimes I have to let Asahi-san’s fans know he’s still alive.”

“Nishinoya Yuu, I do not have _fans!_ ” Asahi spluttered.

As one, Hiyori and Nishinoya gave him flat stares.

“I… I _don’t—!_ ”

“Azumane-saaaaaaann!”

_Holy shit!_

A tall brunette wrapped herself around one of his arms, a beer coyly held to her lips. “Hiyori’s been so confusing all night, all night long. Azumane’s coming, Azumane’s _not_ coming.” Slender fingers clenched his bicep, long hair fell over his jacket. “I almost left.”

“And yet here you are,” Nishinoya deadpanned.

Asahi opened his mouth to… well, he didn’t know _what_ he was going to say, but Nishinoya looked… normally Nishinoya looked really cool when he got all serious, but right now he just looked—

“Azumane-san, have you met Riri?” Hiyori waved her beer at the model-esque woman hanging off his arm.

Asahi swallowed hard. She really was clinging quite tightly, and he could feel her, uh, push-up bra through his jacket, and it just… “She’s a wing spiker, right?” He grinned down at her cautiously. “I’ve seen a few games.”

“Ooooo.” Riri lowered her lashes. “Do you come and watch my games, Azumane-san? I’m so flattered.”

“Um?” Asahi tried to scoot away a little bit, but her grip was, well, what you would expect of a spiker. “Nishinoya likes to. And I used to play, so—”

“Did you?” Riri cooed. “What… _position?_ ”

Nishinoya groaned, and Asahi felt like he’d missed something. Again.

“Ah… well, yours actually,” he offered.

Riri’s hands tightened, and both Hiyori and Nishinoya sucked in a breath. Asahi glanced at all three faces in turn. Riri looked like Christmas had come early, Hiyori’s eyebrows were in her hair, and Nishinoya… Nishinoya’s eyes looked like someone had put a laser beam inside his head.

“I mean… I played wing spiker,” Asahi added carefully. “That’s… that’s what I meant.”

“Aw, you are so _cute_ , Azumane-san,” Riri purred. “Why don’t you play now?”

Sometimes Asahi really wished Tanaka had come with them to college. He was always a lot better at analyzing girls than Asahi was, and Nishinoya was just unhelpful. “I’m studying sports med. I want to be serious about my internships, so I figured joining the team wasn’t the best thing for me.” Asahi laughed. “And I’m not nearly as good as Noya. If that’s the caliber the team needs, I’m out.”

“Whatever!” Nishinoya spat. “No one can take my tosses like you could.”

“Did I hear you played volleyball, Azumane-san?” A firm hand slid up his other arm, and _wow_ the women on the volleyball team were tall up close. The blonde at his side was almost as tall as he was. Asahi glanced down. _Ah._ She was wearing heels but still. “I bet you were really cool to watch.”

Nishinoya mumbled something under his breath.

 _Is he jealous?_ Asahi wasn’t a complete idiot, he was aware he now had two women hanging on him. It was probably enough to make any guy want to punch his friend in the face. Maybe they should find the women’s soccer team? At least some of them were bound to be here tonight, and they’d probably be closer to Nishinoya’s height.

“I had fun playing, but Noya’s a lot cooler to watch than I ever was,” Asahi said loyally. “It’s only his first season with the team, and he’s already a starter.”

Riri didn’t even bat an eye (which Asahi found a little annoying. Wasn’t she supposed to be _interested_ in volleyball?), but the second woman glanced down at Nishinoya in surprise.

“Oh! Oh, you’re the new libero!” she said, awe coloring her voice a bit. “I’m Shizuku. I’m a setter. I saw your last game, and I gotta say I watched you pretty much the whole time!”

Her grip on Asahi’s arm loosened, and he hoped his sigh of relief wasn’t too loud.

Nishinoya looked up at the blonde dubiously. “You watched the _libero_ the whole time? And you’re the setter?”

“Oh, I’m not _the_ setter,” Shizuku said, a bit sheepishly. “Second string. And you’re, uh, pretty damn dynamic on the court, you know.”

“Ugh, we are not talking about volleyball tonight.” Riri tugged on Asahi’s arm. “Let’s leave them to it, Azumane-san. Hiyori? Where are the other girls?”

Hiyori, who had been sipping quietly at her beer till now, shoved herself away from the wall. “I heard one of the basketball guys was going to try to get the old hot tub in the backyard going. I bet they’re all laughing at him.”

“Let’s go laugh at him, Azumane-san. I want you to meet the rest of the team.”

Asahi glanced back at Nishinoya, hoping to calmly and discreetly convey his panic. He liked people. Usually. But Riri was frankly a little intimidating, and Nishinoya was good with intimidating people.

Shizuku and Nishinoya were in full animated conversation now. Asahi felt his mouth lift at the corners. Nishinoya looked like he was back in high school, going over a game with Tanaka or Hinata, all fiery gold eyes and electrifying grins.

Hiyori slapped Asahi on the back, hard. “He’ll be fine. Let Riri lead you to your doom, let’s go.”

“Ah! But…” Asahi looked again at Nishinoya. _Well… if he’s enjoying himself._ He did love talking about volleyball, and Shizuku seemed pretty into it. Maybe she’d be okay with a shorter guy?

Riri tugged him through the house, and Hiyori followed closely.

Sure enough, most of the women’s volleyball team and a decent selection of the men’s basketball team were lounging around the backyard. The early spring night meant that only the dumbest guys weren’t wearing jackets.

“Laaaadddiieesss!” Riri trilled. “I’ve got something for you!”

Asahi’s eyes widened, and he heard Hiyori snort behind him.

“Riri, where did you find _that?_ ”

“Azumane-san, I thought you weren’t coming tonight!”

“Hey, remember when you taped my ankle two weeks ago? Can I mess it up again tonight?”

“Eeeehh, he’s never been around when I get hurt.”

“Cuz you never _do_ anything!”

Someone pushed a beer into his hand, and then there were… arms and _faces_ and… lots and lots of hair and perfume.

Asahi was a little out of his element. So he smiled at everyone and commented when he understood what was going on and laughed when he didn’t and joked with the basketball guys and complimented the volleyball girls and just generally tried to survive.

_I wonder if we’ll get back too late to watch that video._

_…_

_I wonder if Nishinoya likes tall women?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most self-indulgent twaddle I've written in a long time.  
> I have no outline.  
> No real plan.  
> I'm not even going to try to estimate the number of chapters.  
> I just kind of want Nishinoya to writhe in a little bit of agony for his gorgeously tall, long-haired ace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone had (thankfully) turned the music down a little bit, and Asahi picked his way through the house, stepping over this passed-out underclassman and that couple who hadn’t quite made it to a bedroom.
> 
> “Noyaaaa,” he called softly. “You still here?” You’d better be here. If you left without me, I am absolutely going to—
> 
> “Eeeeeeyyyyy, there’s the ACE!”
> 
> Asahi’s jaw dropped.
> 
> Nishinoya was curled up by the door, on the floor, cradled in the toned and graceful arms of Shizuku. His color was high, his eyes were a little glassy, and his hair was standing taller than Asahi had ever seen it outside of a morning at volleyball training camp. Maybe that was because Shizuku was still running her fingers through it.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be sure to go to the next game.” Asahi unwound Riri’s arm from his neck. He wondered what time it was.

“Awwww, Azumane, that is just _so_ sweet.” She still leaned against him heavily. It wasn’t a huge inconvenience — one of her teammates leaned on him from the other side. He was sort of bookended.

Asahi gently pushed the other volleyball player so she leaned back against the couch. _Is she… asleep?_ At least she had just passed out. Some of the basketball team was currently losing the contents of their collective stomachs in the backyard. “Time for me to go, Riri,” he said with an apologetic grin.

“You know you can stay here tonight, right?” she slurred. Asahi wasn’t certain if her eyes were half-shut because she was drunk or tired. “My room’s just up the stairs.”

“Oh, is this where a lot of the volleyball team lives?” He hadn’t known. _I suppose it makes sense._ Hiyori was the one who had organized the party after all, and she was the team captain.

Riri smirked at him. Dark hair fell carelessly over one eye. “You’re slyyyyy, Azumane. Changin’ the subject like that.”

 _How was that changing the subject?_ She was _so_ drunk. Asahi stood. “Yeah, well, I gotta find my friend. Haven’t seen him in… a while.” Hours? It was strange. Nishinoya usually at least popped in to check on him a couple times at things like this.

“Azumane.” Riri’s voice was quiet. Asahi gulped as she laid a hand on his arm. She practically crawled up his side as she stood from the couch. “I don’t know if you’re just a really good actor or what, but….” Her lips brushed against his neck as she whispered. “I’ll play along. If you want to get laid tonight… we can make that happen.”

 _That_ Asahi understood. He stared at her, wide-eyed, pink-faced, and lips clamped shut. “I… I… _Riri_.” He took her by the shoulders and settled her back down on the couch. “You’re drunk,” he whispered, aghast. “You should go get some sleep.” He patted her head awkwardly. “And… and drink some water before you do. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

He straightened, not entirely sure that she had grasped all of that. Riri’s mouth was open slightly, and she had a look that suggested she’d never actually seen him before this particular second.

Asahi smiled uncertainly. “Well. Ah. It was nice meeting you? See you at your game.” And he turned tail to find Nishinoya and a clock, not necessarily in that order.

He nudged aside a couple engrossed in each other’s mouths so that he could read the clock on the stove. _2 a.m._ Asahi groaned. He was glad he’d started pouring his beers out hours ago. He hated staying up this late. He wanted to be back in his apartment, his face washed, his hair down, and unconscious under five blankets.

Someone had (thankfully) turned the music down a little bit, and Asahi picked his way through the house, stepping over this passed-out underclassman and that couple who hadn’t quite made it to a bedroom.

“Noyaaaa,” he called softly. “You still here?” _You’d better be here. If you left without me, I am absolutely going to—_

“Eeeeeeyyyyy, there’s the ACE!”

Asahi’s jaw dropped.

Nishinoya was curled up by the door, on the floor, cradled in the toned and graceful arms of Shizuku. His color was high, his eyes were a little glassy, and his hair was standing taller than Asahi had ever seen it outside of a morning at volleyball training camp. Maybe that was because Shizuku was still running her fingers through it.

“Asahiiiiiiii.” Nishinoya struggled to stand up, but it was obvious that his alcohol consumption had got the better of him.

Shizuku giggled and tried to push him up out of her lap. She sort of ended up just dumping him on the floor.

“Asahi-saaaaaannnn, I’ve been looking aaaaalllll over for you!” Nishinoya beamed up at him.

“Really?” Asahi swallowed hard. “And you thought I’d be in Shizuku’s lap?” Maybe he hadn’t stopped drinking as early as he thought. His jacket was too hot.

Nishinoya blinked. “... No?” he guessed.

“We’re going.” Asahi reached down and pulled the smaller man up by his arm. He supposed he could have been a bit more gentle, but dammit, he was tired and he wanted to be home already.

Nishinoya crashed into his side like a large doll. “Oops,” he muttered. His eyes were level with Asahi’s chest, and he put a hand against him. “Asahi-san’s so damn big.”

Shizuku giggled again, getting unsteadily to her feet. “We got busted,” she said, her voice suggesting she didn’t feel very busted at all. “Let him take you home, Noya-chan. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Right!” Nishinoya squirmed around in Asahi’s arm to grin brightly at the tall blonde. “Shizuku, I’m sooooo glad I met you tonight!”

She blushed — Asahi stared. She fucking _blushed_ — and smoothed her hair. “Yeah, well. Go home, you idiot.”

Nishinoya cackled as Asahi half-pulled him out the door.

“Hey. Hey. Asahi-saaaaan. Hey. _Hey!_ Hey.”

Asahi wiped a hand over his face. His free hand. Nishinoya clung to one arm as though it was all that kept him on his feet. “You’re kinda… loud tonight, Noya.”

“‘m always loud,” Nishinoya countered proudly.

“Well.” Asahi sighed. “You’re not wrong.”

“Hey. Hey. Asahi-san.”

“Yes, Noya, wow, I’m right here, I promise. God, you are going to feel like shit tomorrow.”

“But the question is—” Noya looked up at him suddenly, gold eyes intense. “— how do _you_ feel right now?”

Asahi quirked an eyebrow at him. “Not as good as you do, I bet.”

“Mm. I feel pretty damn good,” Nishinoya agreed. “But thasss from beer. Only beer. _NO SEX FOR ME TONIGHT_ ,” he yelled into the quiet residential street.

“ _OhmygodNoya!_ ” Asahi clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Mmf?” Nishinoya’s eyes were huge over Asahi’s hand. He reached up slowly and cupped it with his own. It was smaller. Asahi wondered briefly if it was more calloused than his these days.

“You…” Asahi licked his lips. “You have to be quiet. You’re not home yet, all right? Indoor voice till we get home.”

Nishinoya yanked Asahi’s hand away and gave a loud, very fake gasp. “Why, _Asahi-san._ You’re taking me home? Such a gentleman.”

“Noya, I swear to god—”

“So how was it?”

Asahi paused, confused. “How was… the party? Fine, I guess? The beer was terrible.”

“Stops bein’ terrible after the fifteenth one.”

“ _You had fifteen beers?!_ ”

Nishinoya snickered. “Prob’ly not. Too little for that shit.”

Asahi frowned doubtfully. He was muscular enough that he could probably actually handle more booze than most people his size.

“Not the party though.” Nishinoya stumbled at Asahi’s side but caught himself. “How was… what’s her face. The girl. You know.”

“... Are you talking about Riri?”

“ _Thasssss_ her name. Riri.” Nishinoya smiled, but it wasn’t like any smile Asahi was used to seeing from him. “She seemed… nice.”

Scenes from the evening flashed through Asahi’s mind. _Hungry_ is more the word he would have chosen. “I suppose.”

They were at the steps of Nishinoya’s apartment building. Nishinoya tripped on the first stair and nearly pulled Asahi down with him. “Wow.” Asahi laughed softly. “You have really got to drink some water, boy. Come on.” He looped one of Nishinoya’s arms over his shoulders and held him by the waist. It was a little uncomfortable, but it would only be for a second.

Nishinoya fumbled in his coat pocket for his keys until Asahi fished them out for him. The door opened, but Nishinoya stood still.

“Noya?” Asahi started to move into the apartment. “Come on, man, we gotta get you—”

“Why didn’t you stay with her?”

Asahi stopped and looked down at Nishinoya.

“I mean, she ask you to leave when it was over or what?” Nishinoya’s voice was low. “Didn’t think you’d be like that.”

Asahi released his hold on Nishinoya’s waist. “Okay. What? I don’t—”

“She lives there, man, I know she does. A lot of the volleyball girls do.” Nishinoya didn’t look up from the floor. “You should have stayed.”

“Wait. Wait wait wait _what?_ ” Asahi leaned forward to try to see his friend’s face. “You think I… you think Riri and I... _slept_ together? Is that what this is?” His face was on fire, he knew it.

Nishinoya looked away. Asahi still couldn’t see his eyes. “Was it someone else?”

“Noya, _what?_ ” Asahi repeated. He didn’t know if he felt… mad or annoyed or embarrassed or what. “You… you think I’m just going to… f- _fuck_ some girl I just met at a party?”

That made Nishinoya’s head snap up.

Asahi straightened, jaw clenched. “Did someone tell you that’s what I was doing? Is that why you never came to check on me?”

Nishinoya’s mouth worked but no sound came out.

“Did Shizuku tell you that?” Asahi whispered, trying not to sound hurt. Why was he hurt? He wasn’t hurt! This was just… dumb, and it was stupid!  _Nishinoya_ was stupid!

“She… she said Riri wanted—”

“Yeah, well, who knows me? Shizuku or you?” Asahi gritted.

“You… you had twelve girls hanging on you!” Nishinoya shouted finally. “What was I supposed to think? You wanted to go to the damn party, we get there, you go hang out with your fucking _harem_ , and what was I supposed to think? That you didn’t like it? Of course I left you alone!”

“I _did not have twelve girls hanging on me!_ ”

“Did you bother counting?” Nishinoya snapped.

“Yeah? Well, let’s talk about you,” Asahi said, his voice harsh. “You should go look in a mirror. Looks like you and Shizuku got to know each other pretty well. Your hair is all over the place.”

Nishinoya’s hand flew to his hair. “It… it’s always like this.”

“Nope. No, it is definitely not always like that.”

“I… I just… Shizuku—”

“Noya.” Asahi handed him his keys. “It’s, you know, it’s late. I’m tired, you’re still drunk, and… I’ll see you tomorrow, how’s that?”

“Asahi-san…”

“Come on.” Asahi nudged Nishinoya’s shoulder lightly. “Text me when you wake up. We’ll watch that video. Get breakfast. Or something.”

Nishinoya’s hands were still in his hair, and he was staring at the floor as though it had said something bad about his mother. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Yeah. I’ll… I’ll text you.” He turned around, walked into the apartment, and shut the door without ever meeting Asahi’s eyes.

Asahi glared at the door for a solid ten seconds before turning his heel and heading down the stairs.

_I did not have twelve girls hanging on me._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All color drained from Nishinoya’s face. “What—” He licked his lips. “What did I say?” His voice was hoarse.
> 
> “Ha.” Asahi focused on his pourover to try to hide the smile. “Something about not getting sex last night?”
> 
> Nishinoya dropped from his line of vision. Slim fingers gripped the countertop, and a voice drifted up from the floor. “Noooooo. No. Nope. I did not.”
> 
> Asahi removed the filter carefully from the decanter. “You did. I and your neighbors are sorry to say.”
> 
> There was a moment of silence. Then, “Well. I suppose there were definitely worse things I could have said.”
> 
> “For example?” Asahi handed a coffee mug down to him. “What else could you have shouted into a quiet neighborhood street at 2 a.m.?”
> 
> Nishinoya accepted the coffee and stood with a groan. “I could have come up with something.” He stared into the mug. “Why… why were we talking about… about sex?”

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

“Mmf.”

Asahi rolled over and swiped at his phone. Thank god it was only a text. His mouth felt like cotton balls had died in it.

_**Noya  
**_ _Breakfast?_

**_You  
_ ** _sure. where_

**_Noya  
_** _Your place? The donut shop had fresh ones when I was out on a run._

**_You  
_** _did you finish the run?_

**_Noya  
_**_… I finished running…_  

Asahi grinned to himself. “Goddammit, Noya, your sweet tooth.”

_**You  
**_ _sure. gimme 15_

**_Noya  
_** _Can I just come in? It’s fucking cold out here._

“What.” Asahi stared at his phone.

_**You  
**_ _you're OUTSIDE_

_**You  
**_ _like right now??_

_**You  
**_ _you're at my place right now outside_

**_Noya  
_ ** _Yes? I told you, I was on a run and the donuts were hot._

**_Noya  
_** _which they will not be very soon if you don’t get your ass out of bed and open your goddamn door._

Asahi threw off the covers. Last night’s T-shirt was on the floor, and he gave it a quick sniff. _Meh?_ That and the basketball shorts he had on would be as good as it got. He ran fingers through his hair on his way to the door. Hopefully it would just look “effortlessly tousled” and not “I slept on this side of my head all night long.”

He yanked open the door. “What the hell, Noya?!”

Nishinoya was leaning against the third-story railing, clutching a white box. “Uh.” There was a crunching noise, and Asahi realized he’d squeezed the box. Hard. “Hi?”

“Hi,” Asahi echoed flatly. He should be annoyed. He had every reason to be annoyed at someone waking him up the morning after a party. A rather shitty party.

Unfortunately, Noya was not cooperating. He never cooperated. Big gold eyes, hair standing straight up from his run, black running tights and an oversized hoodie, and… fucking holding a box of warm donuts, for crying out loud.

“How the hell are you upright?” Asahi asked. “You were completely trashed when I dropped you off at your apartment last night.”

Nishinoya stood away from the railing. “Not everyone is as old as you are, Asahi-san.” His usual cocky grin had finally slid back into place.

“You—! You are _one year_ younger than me!” Asahi spluttered.

“A nice senpai would let me in out of the cold.” Nishinoya leaned forward. He shoved the box into Asahi’s hands. “If only for the sake of the donuts.”

“Well.” Asahi tried to frown and probably failed miserably. “For the donuts.”

Nishinoya bounded ( _bounded!_ ) into the tiny apartment. “Asahi-san, I want coffeeeeeeeee!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Asahi walked back to the kitchen, to get some plates but also to hide his grin. “Some little jerk woke me up all of a sudden, and I haven’t had time to make any yet.”

Nishinoya’s squawk from the front room was so worth being awake for.

“I cannot believe—” Nishinoya poked his head into the kitchen. “—that a guy brings you donuts, and you call him a jerk.”

“A little jerk.” Asahi kept his back to him as he set water on to boil.

“Warm donuts, too.”

Asahi laughed. There was no way he couldn’t.

“Finally.” Nishinoya leaned against the counter while Asahi worked. “I know you’re not always that grumpy in the mornings.”

“Grumpy?” Asahi raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised. “Was I?”

“Thought you were maybe mad at me, to be honest.”

Asahi paused while pouring coffee grounds into the filter. “What? Really?” _Was I mad? I wasn’t mad._ Scenes from late last night blipped through his brain. _I was… tired. Really tired._

“Well.” Nishinoya rubbed the back of his neck and stared intently at the coffee grounds. “Kinda, yeah? I thought maybe you were mad cuz I was… I dunno, being stupid at the party last night?”

 _Oh._ Asahi’s brain settled on one particular scene. The one with Nishinoya in the lap of a tall blonde. With her fingers in his hair.

“I was, right?” Nishinoya leaned forward. “Aw, shit, I did something really stupid, didn’t I? I knew it.”

“No, no, it’s… it was all right.” It was totally fine. Asahi poured hot water over the coffee filter. Slowly. Thin pour, counterclockwise. Concentrate. _It was fine. You’re just not used to seeing him actually score._

Nishinoya was all but folded around his side as he worked. “What’d I do? Did I… fuck, did I _say_ something?”

“Huh?” Asahi finally looked down at him. His eyes were blown wide, his face red. Nishinoya looked inches away from his heart shutting down altogether. “No, you didn’t say anything. Well…” He cocked his head and hid a grin behind his hand. “You did shout something to the whole neighborhood on the way to your place. But I wasn’t mad about it.”

All color drained from Nishinoya’s face. “What—” He licked his lips. “What did I say?” His voice was hoarse.

“Ha.” Asahi focused on his pourover to try to hide the smile. “Something about not getting sex last night?”

Nishinoya dropped from his line of vision. Slim fingers gripped the countertop, and a voice drifted up from the floor. “Noooooo. No. Nope. I did not.”

Asahi removed the filter carefully from the decanter. “You did. I and your neighbors are sorry to say.”

There was a moment of silence. Then, “Well. I suppose there were definitely worse things I could have said.”

“For example?” Asahi handed a coffee mug down to him. “What else could you have shouted into a quiet neighborhood street at 2 a.m.?”

Nishinoya accepted the coffee and stood with a groan. “I could have come up with something.” He stared into the mug. “Why… why were we talking about… about sex?”

“Oh, yeah.” Asahi shoved away from the counter. “I do have a reason to be mad at you.” He was halfway into the front room before he realized Nishinoya wasn’t following him. He glanced over his shoulder. “Noya?”

Nishinoya was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring back at him like he’d seen a ghost. Mouth open, face pale, knuckles white as he gripped the coffee mug in a hold that amazingly hadn’t managed to shatter it. “I knew it,” he breathed. “I _knew_ it. I fucked it up, didn’t I? Oh, god, Asahi, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said any—!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Asahi held out a hand. “Hey! I’m not really mad! I mean, I was a little hurt last night, but it’s okay. I’m fine with it.”

Nishinoya cocked his head slowly. Like a dog in a cartoon. “You’re… fine with it?”

Asahi walked into the front room and settled at the low table in front of the TV. “I guess. I mean, it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Nishinoya followed but didn’t sit down. He looked… well, kind of confused, really. “You think it makes sense?”

“Ugh.” Asahi wiped a hand over his face. “I was probably super annoying, wasn’t I? All those girls and everything. God, and _Riri_.”

Nishinoya sat down on the other side of the table. Slowly. Carefully. He sipped his coffee in the thoughtful manner of a lawyer asking his client if he’d really done it or not. “What,” he began, “are you talking about?”

Asahi blinked. “I’m talking about how you basically accused me of having an orgy with the entire volleyball team last night! What are you talking about?”

If ever a face were a blank slate of emotionless real estate, it was Nishinoya’s just now. Which was unsettling because it was usually a movie screen of his every last thought. “Not… not that,” he finally admitted.

“Yeah, well, that was right after you lectured me for leaving Riri alone instead of spending the night with her,” Asahi added, feeling miffed all over again.

Nishinoya tilted his coffee mug from one side to the other, watching the contents tip this way and that. “So you didn’t hook up with anyone last night?”

“No!” Asahi groaned. “God, it’s like you don’t know me at all! I didn’t just start jumping into people’s pants because I got here a year before you did!”

“I’m sorry, you were the one who mentioned ‘all those girls and everything’ just now,” Nishinoya pointed out. “And I distinctly remember—”

“Oh, yeah, tell me what you distinctly remember.” Asahi glared at him. “Because for everything your drunk ass thinks it remembers, I’ve got a big one for you.”

“Okay, I have been on an _emotional rollercoaster_ since I got here.” Nishinoya held up a hand. “So you’re going to have to explain that one.”

“Shizuku,” Asahi said crisply.

Nishinoya blinked.

“You may recall?” Asahi continued. “Tall, blonde, second-string setter? Likes to fingercomb spiky bleached hair on drunk liberos?”

Memory dawned. With horror following right behind. Carrying luggage for two weeks. “Oh. My. God,” Nishinoya whispered.

“Uh huh.” Asahi sipped his coffee, feeling slightly vindicated.

“That was… she… look, it wasn’t—”

“Dude, I don’t know what you guys got up to, and I don’t need to know.” _I am the upperclassman here. I have gotten that drunk before. I can be understanding._ “Just… of the two of us, I was definitely not the one who got some last night.”

Nishinoya nearly flattened himself across the table as he reached out suddenly for Asahi’s arm. “There is no way in hell that happened.” Golden eyes were electric. “No way, you gotta believe me, I wouldn’t—”

Asahi froze under his touch. He’d seen Nishinoya in earnest before, but this was kind of a new level of intense. “O— okay.”

“No. No, not okay.” Nishinoya’s fingers tightened around his forearm. “Shizuku was really fun to talk to, and… and I was a little pissed, yeah, after you went off with an armload of girls, but I wouldn’t—”

“Hey.” Asahi patted his hand awkwardly. “It’s okay, Noya, really. I left because you and she looked like you were having a fun conversation.”

“What?” Noya looked at him, some weird cross between annoyed and relieved. “You could have joined!”

“Are you kidding?” Asahi tried to laugh. It sounded horrible. “She was totally into you. I wasn’t going to do that to you.”

Nishinoya pulled his hand back. “Do _what_ to me, exactly?”

“Ah, come on.” Asahi wrapped both hands around his coffee mug, willing the tension away from his body. “I’ve never seen a girl so caught up in you before, to be honest. Ha. Nishinoya comes to college, is irresistible to tall blondes. Who knew?”

“Oh my god.” Nishinoya rested his face in his hands. “Asahi. Azumane Asahi, you are an idiot.”

“Huh?” He looked up from his coffee. “Excuse me, that was me being _observant_.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Nishinoya repeated, with feeling. “I… I have to call Tanaka.” He stood.

“Oh. Yeah.” Asahi nodded. “He’d probably have better advice for how to move on with her than I would.”

Nishinoya ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, Tanaka’s definitely better at subtlety than you. Which is saying a lot.”

“Well, don’t play it too subtle. She may not get the message.” _Also, Tanaka? Subtle? In what universe?_

“... I have _got_ to go.”

“Oh?” Asahi got to his feet. “You don’t want a donut?”

“Keep ‘em.” Nishinoya was already reaching for the door.

“I am not eating a dozen donuts by myself, Noya, that’s just wrong.” Something was off. This was off. Nishinoya was off. Fresh donuts? Asahi should have been lucky to get _one_. “Bring that Olympic video over later. We’ll eat ‘em then.”

Nishinoya paused halfway out the door. “... You want me to come over later?”

“Well, sure.” Asahi watched his back. His narrow shoulders didn’t seem as loose as usual. “I want to see it. The donuts’ll be fine if we heat them up just a bit.”

Nishinoya blew out a breath. “Yeah. I’ll be over after practice.”

“Cool.” Asahi felt marginally better. Even though Nishinoya hadn’t turned around. “And, uh, you know… if I offended you about… well, what I said about Shizuku earlier. I’m sorry.”

Nishinoya half-turned to look at him.

“I just…” Asahi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “She seemed like a really cool girl, you know? I didn’t want you to think I… didn’t think she’d be good for you or something. Hey! Maybe you could bring her over tonight, and we’ll all watch the video together? Huh?”

“... I’ll think about it. See ya.” Nishinoya shut the door firmly.

“Right.” Asahi watched the closed door for a moment with a hand on his mouth. “That went… well.”

He wasn't altogether sure why it hadn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two idiots and their possible dialogue are just TOO MUCH FUN for me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A thud on the court — and not one of the right ones, Asahi knew what those sounded like — made him look up. Nishinoya was flat on his back, a ball rolling away from him, his teammates gathering to him in a noisy flood.
> 
> “Noya-san!”
> 
> “Nishinoya!”
> 
> “Maaaaan, where were you looking?!”
> 
> “Oh. Ew. Mikoto, grab a towel…”
> 
> “Augh, it’s all over my shorts!”
> 
> Asahi didn’t decide to go to the huddle of teammates in the middle of the court. He shoved shoulders aside anyway. “Out of the way, I’m sports med, let me see, excuse me…”
> 
> Nishinoya opened one watering eye. “Hey, Asahi.” He grinned, and the blood dripped onto his lip.

While Asahi was wrapping an ankle at the basketball game that afternoon, he thought about how Nishinoya left his apartment kind of fast that morning.

When Asahi helped the basketball captain stretch out a cramped calf muscle, he thought about how Nishinoya had acted so weird about Shizuku. 

When Asahi helped prep the ice baths for the team (after a crushing loss), he thought about how relieved he was that Nishinoya was going to come over after evening volleyball practice.

Asahi thought about Nishinoya pretty much all day.

Which wasn't so unusual.  Asahi thought about Nishinoya a lot. They’d been close since high school. And with Nishinoya acting strange two days in a row now,  _ of course  _ he’d be weighing on Asahi’s mind a little more heavily than normal. 

It was, maybe, a little unusual that Asahi found himself swinging by the practice gym on his way out of the athletic center. He’d straightened the supplies in the sports med training room (thinking about how much harder Nishinoya tended to push himself when he was keyed up about something), and now here he was. 

Asahi paused in the doorway. It looked like they were wrapping things up. Nishinoya said they usually ended with a short scrimmage. 

It had been a long time since he’d seen Nishinoya in action. Running around after supplies and injured people wasn’t a great way to absorb a game. And it was  _ nothing  _ like playing with Nishinoya. 

Asahi could see the extra energy pulsing off of him tonight. He was all trash talk and lightning-quick movement and risk-to-the-wind dives. Asahi cringed as Nishinoya threw himself to recover a block, arm outstretched.  _ He’s going to break his wrist if he’s not careful.  _

Nishinoya was rarely synonymous with “careful,” and he seemed even less so right now. Nothing outside the court existed for him, just the ball, only the ball. Keeping the ball from doing what it wanted to, refusing to let it fall, time and time again. No movement wasted, no instinct too slow. His teammates clearly knew they could risk everything with him behind them, with the way they threw themselves into attack after attack. If Nishinoya had known the game in high school, he breathed it now. 

“He is impressive, isn’t he?”

Asahi jerked, just managing to stop a squeal. “I-Iwaizumi!”

“Asahi.” The dark-haired young man nodded solemnly. He looked back out at the court. “Nishinoya seems to be in rare form this evening. Are you on hand in case of injury?”

Asahi’s heart slowed. “Ah. No. I mean,  _ yes,  _ Noya seems to be a little more… risk-prone tonight, but I just stopped by on my way out. I was working the basketball game.” He took note of Iwaizumi’s gym bag. “Are you, uh, on your way to work out or something?” Iwaizumi was still in his street clothes.

Iwaizumi shifted the bag on his shoulder. “Oikawa pesters me into helping him with extra setting practice. I give in on occasion.” 

“That’s… that’s nice of you.” Asahi glanced out onto the court. He still wasn’t entirely used to seeing old rivals playing on the same team as Nishinoya. But Oikawa Tooru was out there. And Kuroo Tetsurou. And Aone Takanobu.

“You have time to do that, with your engineering studies?” Asahi asked.

“Mm.” Iwaizumi sat on the floor to change his shoes. “If I don’t do something active, I end up sitting for twelve hours. It’s fine.”

Asahi grimaced. He couldn’t imagine sitting at a computer all day long. Sports med required enough of that as it was. 

A  _ thud _ on the court — and not one of the right ones, Asahi knew what those sounded like — made him look up. Nishinoya was flat on his back, a ball rolling away from him, his teammates gathering to him in a noisy flood. 

“Noya-san!”

“Nishinoya!”

“Maaaaan, where were you looking?!”

“Oh. Ew. Mikoto, grab a towel…”

“Augh, it’s all over my shorts!”

Asahi didn’t  _ decide  _ to go to the huddle of teammates in the middle of the court. He shoved shoulders aside anyway. “Out of the way, I’m sports med, let me see, excuse me…” 

Nishinoya opened one watering eye. “Hey, Asahi.” He grinned, and the blood dripped onto his lip.

“Noya.” Asahi had gotten  _ really  _ good in the last year at not reacting to blood in a variety of places it shouldn’t be. “You look great. Sit up.” He pushed lightly on the back of Nishinoya’s head, making him lean forward between his bent knees. Nishinoya groaned, and more blood dripped from his nose onto the court.

“Where’s that towel?” Asahi reached his hand up, not looking away from Nishinoya’s tear-streaked, bloody face. Someone put a cloth in his hand, and he spread it on the floor. “Tell me if this hurts,” he said, pinching Nishinoya’s nose. Asahi braced his other hand on the back of the other boy’s neck. “Okay?”

Nishinoya nodded his head slightly. 

“Anything else hurt?”

Head shake.

“Took the ball to the face?”

“You should have seen it!” One of Nishinoya’s teammates crouched down next to Asahi. “It was one of  _ Kuroo’s _ !”

Asahi looked up, frowning. The former Nekoma High blocker was standing just behind Nishinoya. He appeared unconcerned. But then, Kuroo rarely looked anything other than calmly amused. 

Kuroo held up his hands. “Hey, the ball was already off my hand by the time I realized Noya wasn’t even watching.”

“I was too watching!” Nishinoya’s protest was nasally.

“Oh, don’t be shy.” Kuroo nudged him in the back with his knee. “Your eyes weren’t even on the court. I had no idea  _ Iwaizumi  _ was so compelling.”

“Hey, now—” Asahi began.

Nishinoya swatted his hand away from his nose and was on his feet like lightning. “You  _ shut up! _ ” he yelled, grabbing a fistful of Kuroo’s sweaty T-shirt.

Asahi stood, but Aone was faster. The silent blonde giant wrapped arms like metal pipes under Nishinoya’s wiry ones and lifted him off his feet. Oikawa chose that moment to slide next to Kuroo and wrap an arm around his shoulders.

“My, my,” Oikawa purred. “What an exciting way to end practice. Azumane, go and get our libero cleaned up, will you? And Kuroo.” He smacked the smirking blocker’s head. “If anyone gets to stare at Iwa-chan, it’s me, all right? Don’t confuse things.”

“You’re the one confusing things,” Iwaizumi said blandly from just behind Asahi. “Are we still doing extra practice?”

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa left Kuroo’s side instantly. “Please don’t mind the mess.”

Aone set Nishinoya down in front of Asahi with the utmost care. “Please,” he rumbled. “Thank you.” He walked over to the bench and began taking his shoes off, his work done. 

Kuroo ruffled Nishinoya’s hair as he too left the court. “Don’t keep him up too late, baby crow.” Nishinoya kicked out at him and managed to make Kuroo’s knee buckle. Asahi imagined that would have been more satisfying if Kuroo hadn’t cackled all the way to the bench.

Asahi watched Nishinoya glare at all of his teammates in turn as they went about their business. Finally, guilty gold eyes flicked up at him. “Hey, Asahi-san.” Nishinoya quirked his lips, blood smearing his teeth. 

Asahi sighed. “You already said that. Come on.” He clapped his hand on Nishinoya’s thin shoulder and felt him stumble forward a little bit. 

“Where we goin’?”

“Somewhere I can get my hands on soap, hot water, and possibly rubbing alcohol,” Asahi responded. “You look like shit.” Which was not entirely true and probably would never be.

Nishinoya put a hand over his nose and mouth. “Oh. That bad, huh?” He glanced over at the bench. “My stuff…”

“We’ll grab it on the way back,” Asahi promised. “It doesn’t sound like Oikawa and Iwaizumi are going to be leaving any time soon anyway.”

“Bet you anything they’re not here when we get back,” Nishinoya mumbled.

Asahi paused. “Oh, you think? Well.” He pivoted to walk over to the bench, dragging Nishinoya along with him. “What’s yours?”

“That bag. Shoes.” Nishinoya sat down to change his shoes, and Asahi noticed a drop of blood splat on the court. 

“Mm.” Asahi knelt in front of him. “Pinch your nose the way I showed you. I’ll do this.” 

Nishinoya swept his feet under the bench. “Hey I just finished practice! My feet are gross!”

Asahi glared up at him and grabbed his ankle. “You think I don’t see gross feet every day? Just don’t bleed on me.”

Nishinoya swallowed. “Um. W-well. I have… there’s fresh socks in… in my bag.”

Asahi pulled the bag toward him. “Pinch your nose.” He untied one shoe and slid it off. “Wow. I’ve never noticed how little your feet are.”

Nishinoya made some nasally, squeaky sound. 

“Sorry, man, didn’t mean to tease.” Asahi shot him a quick grin before he peeled off one sock. It was a little sweaty, but he’d definitely dealt with worse. He grabbed a nearby towel and wiped down Nishinoya’s foot. Nothing worse than a sweaty foot in a clean sock.

Nishinoya jerked when the towel touched his arch. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Asahi said soothingly. “I’ll be more careful, promise.” He rolled on a dry sock, then picked up Nishinoya’s other foot. But despite his best efforts, Nishinoya still twitched when Asahi wiped his bare foot.

“Wow.” Asahi grinned. “You are  _ really _ —” He stopped.

Nishinoya had pulled his T-shirt over his face. 

“Whoa.” Asahi reached up and tugged the shirt down. Nishinoya’s face was  bright  red. “Um. You okay? I promise, I’m not doing it on purpose.”

Nishinoya pulled the shirt back up over his nose. “I am…  _ never  _ going to hear the end of this from Oikawa.” His voice was a little high.

“Huh?” Asahi half-turned where he knelt. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were indeed standing in the middle of the court, watching them both. Iwaizumi looked annoyed, and Oikawa looked like he was watching his first-born’s Christmas pageant.

Asahi gave a little wave. He turned back. “Your nose is bleeding again. Keep your fingers here, like this.” He lifted Nishinoya’s hand to his nose, pinching the boy’s finger and thumb just below the cartilage. “Don’t stop doing that till I say.”

Nishinoya whimpered. Asahi wanted to look up, but he didn’t really want to cause him even  _ more  _ distress. This was clearly super embarrassing for him. 

“Done.” Asahi set Nishinoya’s foot down and patted his street shoe. “Let’s do your face next.”

Nishinoya  _ squeaked _ , and this time Asahi did look at him. “You okay, Noya?” 

Nishinoya still had his nose pinched between his fingers, but he managed to shake his head. “Let’s just… let’s get out of here,” he whispered. He reached for his gym bag, but Asahi grabbed his hand.

“No way. You pick up anything that heavy, you’re gonna bleed more. I got it.” Asahi slung the bag over his shoulder and walked toward the exit. “Bye, Oikawa! See ya, Iwaizumi!”

“Come back  _ any time,  _ Azumane-saaaaan!” Oikawa sang.

Nishinoya cringed at Asahi’s side.

* * *

 

“Right.” Asahi patted a bench in the sports med training room. “Sit here.”

Nishinoya climbed up and sat there, red-faced, blood-streaked, and silent as a tomb. 

“You know,” Asahi said as he prepped a warm, wet cloth and some antiseptic. “You’re lucky your nose isn’t broken. Kuroo’s spikes are no joke. What were you doing?”

“What… what do you mean, what was I doing?” Nishinoya’s voice was cautious.

Asahi shrugged and turned back to him with the cloth. “Someone said you weren’t watching? That’s not really like you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a hit in the face before, to be honest.”

Nishinoya didn’t say anything. Just watched him as Asahi wiped carefully under his nose and his chin. 

“I guess everyone has bad days,” Asahi said, mostly to cover the silence. Nishinoya’s gold eyes were disconcertingly large this close up. He scrubbed at a grimy cheek. 

Nishinoya’s face was pink, but that could have been from the warm cloth rubbing his skin. Asahi wiped his jaw and then down his neck. Nishinoya stilled, then lifted his chin a little. The blood had gone down his shirt, it looked like, but… well. Asahi cleared his throat softly. Nishinoya could get that later. 

“I’m just saying, it reminded me more of Hinata than you, you know?” Asahi wrapped his thumb in the cloth and swiped over Nishinoya’s lower lip. Blood had settled in every groove. Nishinoya glanced away and opened his mouth slightly. He huffed a little, and Asahi felt it on his hand. 

His other hand was wrapped around the back of Nishinoya’s neck. He could feel his hair on a couple of his fingers, thick and damp. Asahi paused, the wet cloth still against Nishinoya’s lips.  _ Um. Is this weird? Am I being weird? This isn’t weird, I do shit like this all the time. But this isn’t a game. You’re not on the clock. He doesn’t need you to do this. _

“Hinata.” 

Asahi blinked. “Huh?” 

Nishinoya looked at him. “Really? I remind you of Hinata?”

“... Did I say that?”

“You just said I looked like Hinata on the court tonight.” Nishinoya pushed Asahi’s hand away from his mouth. “I take _one_ ball to the face, and suddenly I’m an overclocked spiker who can’t receive to save his life.”

“What?” Asahi tightened his grip on Nishinoya’s neck. “You looked great out there. You always do.”

 “... I do?”

“It’s just not like you to be distracted, so I was only saying—” 

“Yeah, well, if I was  _ distracted _ , it was—” Nishinoya paused. “It was an accident. I wasn’t distracted. Certainly not by you walking into the gym.”

“You got a ball in the face because you were looking at  _ me? _ ” Asahi repeated, distressed.

“I said  _ not  _ because of you, weren’t you listening?”

“You saw me walk into the gym, and then Kuroo put a ball in your face. This is what you’re telling me.”

“As if you doing  _ anything  _ would distract me from volleyball!” Nishinoya shoved himself off the bench. 

“Where are you going?” Asahi gripped the bloody cloth tightly. “Your face isn’t—”

“ _I_ —” Nishinoya said with emphasis. “—am going to my apartment, where I am going to take a shower. And recover. And then _you_ —” He poked Asahi’s chest. “—are going to come over to _my_ place, and we are going to watch that damn video. Finally.” 

“Your place?” Asahi rubbed his chest where Nishinoya had prodded him. “What about the donuts?”

“Bring ‘em.” Nishinoya grabbed his bag and marched for the door. “And coffee.”

* * *

 

The campus coffee bar wasn’t exactly on the way to Nishinoya’s apartment, but the price was right. Asahi got out his wallet, waiting for the girl in front of him to finish ordering. She turned finally, paper cup in hand.

“Ah! Azumane-san!”

Asahi’s eyes widened.  _ Oh. Wow.  _

Shizuku, tall and blonde, smiled sunnily at him. “How are you?” She glanced around. “Is, uh, Noya-san with you?”

Asahi swallowed. “Shizuku! N-no, Noya’s not—”

“Right, right!” Shizuku waved a hand with a self-deprecating laugh. “Sorry, wow, that was so rude. I didn’t mean that to be, like, I wasn’t glad to see  _ you _ . Because I am! I just… I only meant that… you know what? I’m just gonna let you order.” She started to walk past him, blushing hard. “Nice to see you!”

Gears didn’t normally turn at alarming speeds in Asahi’s brain, but this time, he caught the tail of an idea before it evaporated. “Shizuku!” He reached out and tugged at her sleeve. “Hang on, will you? Just gimme one sec…” He ordered quickly, latte for him, black for Nishinoya. 

Shizuku was fidgeting with her coffee cup when he turned around. Blonde hair waved past her shoulders, trim flannel shirt, short leather jacket, ankle boots, trim, athletic body — Nishinoya deserved a chance with someone like her. 

“You busy tonight?” he asked bluntly.

Shizuku nearly dropped her coffee. “Um? Uh, w-well, I was just going to the library, but… um, Azumane-san, I don’t think…” She paused, staring at the floor like it was headlights and she had antlers.

A lightbulb clicked on for Asahi. “Oh! Oh, no, not for  _ me _ ,” he stressed. “I’m going over to Noya’s right now to watch a video. I wondered if you wanted to come?”

Shizuku’s head snapped up. “You’re going to Noya’s place?” Interest colored her voice, and Asahi knew he’d be the worst friend in the world if he  _ didn’t  _ make the offer. “Oh. But I couldn’t. Noya-san wouldn’t know I was coming, so…”

“He’d be delighted,” Asahi said firmly. 

“You… you think so?” 

“The video’s about volleyball,” he added, trying to sound coaxing. “Something from the Japanese Olympic team?” 

“Ohhh.” Her eyes lit up.

“So it’s  _ almost  _ like studying, right?” Asahi grinned.

Shizuku smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, it would be, huh?”

“Awesome.” Asahi clapped his hands together. “Let me just get our drinks, and we’ll—”

“Azumane?” 

Asahi glanced up. “Kuroo!” 

The spiky-haired blocker glanced from Shizuku to Asahi. “Must be the night of the volleyball people. What are you two doing here?” He raised an eyebrow at Asahi. “Without Noya?”

“We’re gonna go to his place right now!” Shizuku said happily. “You should come with us!”

Kuroo lifted  _ both  _ eyebrows. “You’re going to Noya’s apartment? With Azumane?” He shot Asahi another look. “Well, as much as I’d love to see that, I have a test Monday. Just here to pick up something to cram with.”

“Right.” Asahi stepped aside to let him get to the counter. “Ah. See you.” Granted, Kuroo was always a little strange, but really, he could have made Shizuku feel unwelcome.

The walk to Nishinoya’s apartment was a little chilly, but nothing the university’s coffee couldn’t handle. Asahi and Shizuku sipped from their cups, enjoying companionable silence for a few minutes.

“Azumane-san.” Shizuku finally broke the quiet. “Is… Is Noya-san dating anyone right now?”

The directness of the question forced a breath out of Asahi’s lungs. “Ah. Um? No, I don’t think — no, I’m pretty sure that’s no.”  _ He’d tell me. Right? He’d definitely tell me, no way he wouldn’t. _

Shizuku released a sigh. “Ah. Thanks. That was really unsubtle of me, but… I figured any of my questions sort of would be.”

Asahi laughed. “What other questions do you have?” They’d probably be about Nishinoya. Which… was fine. He’d probably know all the answers at any rate. This is what wingmen did all the time, right?

Shizuku smiled up at him, but her mouth wobbled a bit. “Has… has he ever… would he ever… well. Does he like tall girls?”

Asahi took a thoughtful sip. The only girl he’d ever really noticed Nishinoya being into was Kiyoko in high school. Was she taller than him?  _ She might have been?  _ Nishinoya always hopped around so much whenever she was in proximity, it would have been difficult to tell. So Asahi settled for, “Maybe?”

Shizuku frowned. “I guess… even if he did...  liking tall girls and dating someone who’s taller than he is by quite a ways are two different things, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I bet he’d look really good next to someone super tall.” Nishinoya looked good no matter what, so that couldn’t be wrong.

Shizuku laughed. “You are too nice, Azumane-san.”

Asahi smiled. Lots of people said that. 

However, when Nishinoya opened his apartment door, the look on his face suggested that he wouldn’t be saying it anytime soon.

Nishinoya’s mouth gaped, which only added to an already alarming picture. His right eye was blackening, it looked like his upper lip had a small split, and Asahi was pretty sure there were a couple new drops of blood on his otherwise clean T-shirt. 

Shizuku found her voice first. “N-Noya… san? Are you all right?”

Nishinoya's mouth settled into a grim line. “Asahi-san. I am going to kill you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asahi, YOU MORON.
> 
>  
> 
> [@codango on Tumblr](http://codango.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nishinoya’s mouth gaped. “You’re mad? You’re upset with me because I’m not… I’m not letting you play fucking cupid with me?”
> 
> Asahi took a couple steps toward him. “You were all over her last night,” he hissed. “Just last night! Did you ever think she might get the wrong message? And like it?”
> 
> “Wh-what? We were sitting and drinking and talking.” Nishinoya looked up at him, irate. “And you have no room, zero room, to yell at me for that.”
> 
> “Yeah? Yeah, I do.” Asahi crossed his arms and glared down at him. “You are one thousand times better at reading people than me. You could not have missed what she was thinking about you. And she’s too nice for you to lead her on.”
> 
> Something quick and subtle flashed across Nishinoya’s face. “Wow. This from you?”
> 
> Asahi narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

Shizuku backed away slowly. “Maybe I should just go…”

“What? No, don’t be silly,” Asahi said in a rush. “Noya just had a rough practice today, kinda forgot about that, sorry, but he’s okay, really!”

“You _forgot_ that Kuroo spiked me in the face?” Nishinoya’s voice rose. “You cleaned me up! You took my shoes off!”

“What?” Shizuku looked from one guy to the next. “Noya-san, you got hit in the face at practice tonight?” She stepped forward, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Oh my god, that looks so painful.”

Asahi’s perception of time slowed to a crawl. Nishinoya’s expression went from supreme annoyance focused one hundred percent on Asahi to dumbfounded and staring up at Shizuku. She cradled his face in her slim hands, her thumb brushing underneath the bruising. Long blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she bent to take a closer look.

_ Shit.  _ Well, now, Asahi just felt incredibly in the way. He hadn’t exactly been expecting… well, he  _ had  _ been serious about the three of them watching the video together, but now — 

“Your lip is swollen too, wow,” Shizuku was saying, awestruck. “That must have been quite a hit. Have you put ice on it?”

“Y-yeah.” Nishinoya’s voice choked into existence. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, Asahi-san patched me up really good when it happened, so. So no worries.” He patted her hand on the side of his face awkwardly. 

Shizuku jerked her hands back. “Ah… of course!” She looked at Asahi, a plea for help blaring from her eyes.

“W-well,” Asahi tried, “I… you know, I totally forgot the donuts! God, Noya, I’m sorry, I’ll just go and—”

Nishinoya’s hand shot out and grabbed Asahi’s jacket. “ _ No. _ ” He took a deep breath and lifted his head. Asahi could tell that his grin was a little off. “What the hell?” Nishinoya’s voice was teasing. “It’s fucking cold outside. Can you guys just get in here already?”

“Um.” Shizuku wrung her hands as she walked into the apartment. “Azumane-san said… he said you were going to watch something? Something about the Japanese Olympic team?” 

“Yeah.” Nishinoya walked over to the couch and picked up his laptop, his back to them. “You guys run into each other on campus or something?”

Asahi settled at the coffee table. “Forgot the donuts, didn’t forget the coffee,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. He pushed Nishinoya’s cup over to him. “I talked her into coming over instead of studying.”

“Is… is that okay?” Shizuku asked.

“Yeah!” Nishinoya turned around quickly. “Yes, yeah, of course, totally fine!” He grinned at her. “Glad you’re here.”

Her blush was immediate. Asahi noticed that she sighed a little.

“Just… sorry for the way I look, you know?” Nishinoya gestured to his face. “It looks a lot worse than it is. Bloody nose and all that, it was gross.”

“I’ve totally done that.” Shizuku nodded. “The black eye makes you look cool for a couple days though. Kinda tough. It’s fun.” Her eyes widened. “Uh, not that… well, I mean, you look c-cool anyway, so—!”

“Tough, huh?” Nishinoya glanced at Asahi. “Does it make me look cool, Asahi-san?”

Asahi huffed a laugh. “You always look cool. You don’t need a black eye for that.”

Nishinoya frowned and flopped down on the couch. “But it makes me look  _ more  _ cool, right?” 

“Please try not to get any more black eyes, Noya,” Asahi scolded from where he sat at the coffee table. “You shorten my life enough as it is.”

“Aw.” Nishinoya leaned forward. “You’re so sweet when you care.”

_ There you are.  _ Asahi smiled. “I care a lot. So please pay attention during practice.”

Nishinoya’s cheeky grin faded. His eyes looked huge. “... Sure,” he said softly. 

Asahi reached a hand up to the other boy’s face and tilted his chin to the side. “That eye does look bad though. If it swells in the morning, put a cold pack on it.”

Nishinoya went entirely still. A strange phenomenon as far as Asahi was concerned. He dropped his hand. “Anyone need anything before we watch the video?”

Shizuku’s mouth was open a little bit. “Oh,” she whispered. 

“Mm? Need more coffee, Shizuku?” Asahi stood. “I can make some—”

“No!” She scrambled to her feet. “No, no, I’m just fine, the coffee was… I had plenty, um. And on second thought, I really should go and study—”

“What?” Asahi frowned and followed her to the door. “You don’t want to watch it? Noya said there’s this jump serve that’s really incredible.”

Shizuku paused in the midst of slipping her shoes back on. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “It sounds cool, but—” She faced him, her smile bright and false. “I really do need to study.”

Asahi opened his mouth but frankly was at a loss. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get her to come over. And now she was doing her damnedest to leave? He glanced back at Nishinoya. Was he that intimidating?

Nishinoya was tapping something into his phone. He winked at both of them as he lifted it to his ear. “Hey, Tanaka! Get your ass over here.”

Asahi blinked.  _ Tanaka?  _

“I didn’t ask if you were busy cuz you’re not, right?” There was a pause, and then Nishinoya laughed. “I got something I want you to see. Oh, wah wah, you’re like two minutes away, don’t pretend it’s hard. Asahi-san’s here too.” 

Asahi couldn’t hear Tanaka’s part of the conversation, but Nishinoya’s face went beet red. “Shut up, asshole! I asked you to come over out of the goodness of my fucking heart, and this is how you treat me.” 

A slow smile spread across his face, soft and genuine and only for Tanaka. Well. Asahi had never seen it directed at anyone else. 

“Yeah, something like that.” Nishinoya stood and walked into the kitchen. “Two minutes, or I’m sending Asahi-san out after you. Yeah, yeah, I’m putting the coffee on right now.”

Shizuku and Asahi stared after Nishinoya. And then exchanged a confused glance. 

“Tanaka’s coming over?” Asahi finally managed.

“Mm!” Nishinoya was clattering in the kitchen. “I can’t believe I spaced out that he’d be interested.”

Asahi raised an eyebrow. “In the volleyball video?”

“Sure! He still plays in his neighborhood league.” The sound of grinding coffee beans put an end to conversation from the kitchen.

Asahi glanced at Shizuku. He tried for a grin that he hoped wasn’t too awkward. “Looks like you’ll be meeting another one of us. Tanaka’s a good guy.”  _ Just a little… loud. And this has already been a weird enough night for her.  _

He hoped that all three of them together didn’t send her running for the hills. What was Nishinoya thinking? As far as Asahi knew, Tanaka wasn’t dating anyone at the moment, which always meant for… unpredictable social behavior around new women.

Shizuku seemed to reach a decision of sorts. She toed off the one shoe she’d managed to put on and walked over to kneel at the coffee table. She sipped her coffee. Graceful and collected.

Asahi relaxed a little.  _ Okay. Okay, we haven’t ruined anything for him yet.  _ He joined her, smiling at her over his paper cup. “Sorry if we’re really keeping you from studying,” he said, mostly to break the silence.

She shook her head, not looking at him. “Mm. I wouldn’t have gotten much done, I’m sure. Azumane-san…”

Asahi hummed inquiringly. 

Shizuku looked up, and her face was strangely determined. “Azumane-san, would you… you asked me what other questions I had about Noya-san, so I… well.”

Asahi straightened and tried to look somewhat put together. “Ask me anything, Shizuku. I’ll do my best.”

She gave him a searching look, her arms crossed on the low table. “If Noya-san was… interested in a particular…” Shizuku paused. “I could be  _ very  _ wrong, but you’re his best friend, right?”

Asahi sipped his coffee. It was getting cold. “I… think so? Well. Tanaka’s pretty close. So maybe he is?”

“Uh huh. So it’s just possible that you may not, let’s say, definitely know for certain if Noya-san does or does not like… for example… girls.”

Asahi cocked his head. Slowly. “... what?”

_ BAM! BAM! BAM! _

“Oi! Noyaaaaa, open the fuck up, man, it’s cold out here!”

Shizuku jumped and put a hand to her chest, her eyes sliding closed. 

“I’ll, uh, I’ll just…” Asahi stood. “That’s probably, you know, Tanaka.”  _ What. WHAT? WHAT THE…   _ “Tanaka. Nice to see you, man.”

“Asahi-san!” Tanaka engulfed him in an enormous hug, all early-spring chill and puffy coat. “He dragged you out tonight, too?” 

“Meh, I had to cover a game, so it’s not too late for me.” Asahi stepped back. “You work today?”

“Pfft. I was at the restaurant before you even came out of REM. Lucky for you I can—” Tanaka’s whole body stiffened, and his eyes focused past Asahi’s shoulder. “—still… hang. Um.”

_ Bingo.  _ Asahi stifled a sigh.  _ Hope you know what you’ve done, Noya.  _ “Tanaka, this is Shizuku.” He stepped aside, but the lanky young man was already halfway to the coffee table.

“Shizuku?” Tanaka settled on the floor at the low table and leaned forward. Asahi was just relieved he hadn’t sat on top of the poor woman. “Tanaka Ryuunosuke. I’ve known both these guys since high school.”

“Shizuku is Noya’s friend,” Asahi hinted as he sat on the floor with them. 

“Is she really?” Tanaka didn’t take his eyes off of her. “That little bastard.”

“Um.” Shizuku glanced from Asahi to Tanaka and back again. 

“Who you calling a little bastard?” Nishinoya walked out of the kitchen carrying a French press and four coffee mugs. 

“You, in case you missed it.” Tanaka jerked his thumb in Nishinoya’s direction. “So, Shizuku, how did you come to know the most genius libero in college volleyball? And do you regret it?”

A small smile pulled at Shizuku’s lips. “Ha. Well? We only just met, really. There was this party, and—”

“A party where I was cruelly and unusually abandoned by Asahi-san.” Nishinoya threw himself onto the floor at Asahi’s side. “He sailed off into the night flanked by twenty women.”

“... Right.” Shizuku stared at the coffee table. 

“So Shizuku took pity on me,” Nishinoya continued, “and talked with me all night long.”

“And drank,” Asahi muttered.

Nishinoya shrugged. “Maybe a little bit.”

“Kind of a lot,” Shizuku countered with a smile.

“Oh, come on, you were both  _ plastered _ ,” Asahi protested.

“Aaaaaand she’s a setter for the women’s team, Ryuu.” Nishinoya all but waggled his eyebrows, Asahi could have sworn.

“No.” It shouldn’t have been possible for Tanaka to look  _ more  _ interested in the pretty blonde. “Damn, why didn’t I go to college?”

Asahi and Nishinoya both laughed, while Shizuku did the I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on-but-I’ll-smile-anyway thing employed by outsiders everywhere. “So why didn’t you?” she finally asked.

“Ah.” Tanaka rubbed his shaved head. “Not gonna lie, my grades were never anything to write home about.”

“Whatever.” Nishinoya pushed his head lightly. “This guy is an incredible cook, Shizuku. Make him make you dinner, I’m not kidding. His family owns a really great restaurant, and he’s pretty much the manager.”

Tanaka flushed. “If I’m gonna keep it in the family, I should know how it all works, right?” 

Asahi sat back and sipped fresh coffee as Tanaka and Nishinoya regaled Shizuku with each other’s high points.

_ Okay. So. Okay.  _ Nishinoya had asked Tanaka over just to introduce him to Shizuku, Asahi was all but certain of it. Which meant that Asahi had completely misread the signs when he assumed that Nishinoya was into her. Or was potentially into her.  _ Well, who wouldn’t have thought that?  _ Asahi grumbled to himself. Shizuku was smart, pretty, and clearly attracted to Nishinoya.

But really:  _ Make him make you dinner?  _ Asahi glanced at Nishinoya. You did not say that about another guy if you wanted to keep a girl interested in  _ you _ . 

Nishinoya caught his eye and gave him a surreptitious wink. Shizuku laughed cautiously at something Tanaka said.

“I think—” Nishinoya slapped the table softly and got to his feet. “—it just might be time to trade in coffee for beer. Gimme a hand, Asahi-san.”

“Oh, but. Well?” Asahi stood and followed him into the kitchen. He glanced back over his shoulder. 

Tanaka was leaning over the table, clearly trying to hold back a huge grin. Shizuku was sitting up straight, perhaps not entirely comfortable, but her smile was tentatively friendly. Thank goodness Tanaka seemed to have changed after his restaurant shift. Clean, dark jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and sleeves rolled up to the elbows. 

Asahi nodded to himself. He’d never look as effortlessly cool as Nishinoya, but Tanaka had certainly improved since high school.

“You want a beer?” Nishinoya closed the fridge with his foot and held out a can. 

“Is this going to help everyone concentrate on the video?” But Asahi took it. 

Nishinoya shrugged. “We can still do that. Or you and I can watch it later.” He popped open a can and took a swig, not looking at Asahi.

Asahi watched him drink. “Guess I misunderstood about you and Shizuku, huh.”

Nishinoya froze. Lowered the can. “Knew she’d be perfect for Tanaka.”

Asahi thought about letting it go at that. Instead, he heard himself say, “You were never interested. From the beginning, you weren’t into her.”

Nishinoya licked his lips. Flicked his eyes up to Asahi. “C’mon, man. I never said I was.”

Asahi nearly slammed his beer down on the counter. A lesser man would have. “You were  _ sitting  _ in that woman’s  _ lap _ . Drunk out of your goddamn little  _ mind _ .”

Nishinoya’s mouth gaped. “You’re  _ mad?  _ You’re upset with me because I’m not… I’m not letting you play fucking  _ cupid  _ with me?”

Asahi took a couple steps toward him. “You were all over her last night,” he hissed. “Just last night! Did you ever think she might get the wrong message? And like it?”

“Wh- _ what? _ We were sitting and drinking and talking.” Nishinoya looked up at him, irate. “And you have no room,  _ zero  _ room, to yell at me for that.”

“Yeah? Yeah, I do.” Asahi crossed his arms and glared down at him. “You are one thousand times better at reading people than me. You could not have missed what she was thinking about you. And she’s too nice for you to lead her on.”

Something quick and subtle flashed across Nishinoya’s face. “Wow. This from you?”

Asahi narrowed his eyes. “What does  _ that  _ mean?”

Nishinoya put a hand to Asahi’s chest, almost but not quite pushing him away. “I am not the one who invited her up to my apartment tonight. That was all you, man. And yeah, I really do think she and Tanaka would be cool together, so it worked out, but you’re the one pushing her where you think she should go, don’t you forget it.”

Asahi clenched his jaw. And stepped back. “Sorry. I just… you haven’t been interested in anyone since Kiyoko, so I thought… well.” Embarrassment was tapping at the back of his brain, and he really didn’t want to go down that road. Asahi turned around and opened his beer. “But you really don’t need help, you’re right.”

“... Asahi-san.” 

Asahi tensed when a small hand touched his arm. Tentatively at first, then it clenched around his bicep. Nishinoya peered up at him. 

Asahi tried to smile, hoping his embarrassment didn’t show on his face. Damn, how did Nishinoya always come off so cool? He never misread anyone. “I won’t do it again,” Asahi promised. “Sorry I made things awkward for you.”

Nishinoya just watched him. “Hey. Asahi-san.”

Asahi rubbed the back of his neck. It really was difficult to act calm when Nishinoya got quietly intense like this. “Mm?”

“You know… you don’t have to try to hook me up with anyone,” Nishinoya said carefully.

“Well. Yeah, I know that, but Shizuku—”

“Is really nice and very, very cool and awesome for someone who is not me.”

Asahi frowned. “Is it because she’s tall? I didn’t think that would matter.”

Nishinoya’s mouth fell open. “Tall?”

“Oh.” Missed again. “Never mind.”

“Asahi-san.” Nishinoya pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like Shizuku because I like—”

“So are you guys bringing in beer or what?”

Asahi and Nishinoya turned as one to stare at Tanaka. Who backed away instantly from the kitchen door. “Oh. Uh. Whoops.”

“Goddammit,” Nishinoya muttered. “ _ Here. _ ” He shoved two cans at Tanaka. “ _ Go. _ ”

“Right. I’ll just. Yeah.” Tanaka swallowed and turned tail for the main room.

Asahi looked back at Nishinoya. His arms were folded across his chest, a beer in hand, and he was scowling at the floor. Asahi hated it. Hated that he kept missing things, hated that Nishinoya was upset, had  _ been  _ upset. “Noya…” He reached out a hand but pulled it back.

Nishinoya looked up at him. It almost seemed like he wasn’t breathing.

“You can tell me anything, right?” Asahi said, trying to keep his tone soft and approachable. “Like, you know, ‘back the fuck off’ or…”  _ Or if you’re not into girls? But I know you are. You liked Kiyoko so much, I did  _ not  _ make that up.   _ “... or whatever,” he finished.

Nishinoya’s eyes went wide. He bit his lip. “I don’t want you to back off.” It wasn’t quite a whisper.

Heat flew over Asahi’s entire body in a wave. No, really, it started in his gut and washed over his chest, down his arms, up his face, and out his ears.  _ What? What… is going ON.  _ It was like his brain was trying to process everything about Nishinoya’s entire being at once; his wild hair, his long lashes around really huge eyes, his wiry body. And — Shizuku was right — his lip was swollen a little. 

Asahi couldn’t have dreamed up in a million years what he was doing. He feathered his thumb over Nishinoya’s mouth. His lips were soft. Asahi bet that his jaw would fit perfectly in his hand.

_ What. Exactly. What  _ exactly  _ are you doing right now? _

Nishinoya was frozen, staring up at him, face an intense shade of red.

_ Oh god.  _ Asahi dropped his hand immediately. “S-sorry. Your… I didn’t know… you cut your lip. It, uh, it looks good.”

Nishinoya touched his fingers to his lips. “It looks… good?” His voice sounded a little dazed.

Asahi inhaled deeply. “Looks clean. Healing nice. Let’s watch that damn video.” He clenched his beer can and walked out of the kitchen. 

“No, I’m telling you, my dad’s katsudon is a religious experience,” Tanaka was saying. “I’m still working on it. I’m sure there’s something he’s not telling me just to stay ahead.”

Shizuku shook her head as Asahi crawled onto the couch behind them. “You just told me your place is famous for its salmon. I’ll have that.”

“I’ll make you both.”

For some reason, Asahi wanted to scowl. Tanaka was making such easy headway, it seemed. As a friend, Asahi should really be elated. Except that all his emotions were a total clusterfuck at the moment and couldn’t be relied upon for shit, apparently.

“I’m not eating two meals at once, Tanaka-san,” Shizuku said, and Asahi felt like cheering.

“I’ll finish whichever one you don’t like best. A perfect solution.” Tanaka drank his beer, clearly pleased with himself.

“Don’t decide how the date’s going to go all by yourself, Ryuu,” Nishinoya teased. He sat next to Asahi on the couch. Effortlessly. Like they always did. Like Asahi  _ hadn’t  _ just nearly assaulted him in the kitchen. 

“Wow. Thanks, Noya-chan. That’s really helpful, I’m really,  _ really  _ glad you said that.” But Tanaka didn’t look too irritated.

Shizuku, on the other hand, was blushing furiously. “Date?” she squeaked. “Was… was that what we were talking about? I thought—”

“Ohhh, Noya’s just joking around!” Tanaka recovered quickly. “He’s been pestering me to cook for him for ages. All four of us’ll go, how’s that? Next week, I’ll make you all dinner at the restaurant. Yeah, Noya?” He reached back to slap the other boy’s knee.

“Next week?” Nishinoya reached for his laptop and started pulling up the video.  _ That goddamn video _ , Asahi growled to himself. “I’m free Tuesday after 7. Asahi-san?”

“Um.”  _ What is happening.  _ “Yes? Yeah, I don’t — I can be ready.”

“Awesome.  _ That,  _ Tanaka boy, is a date.”

Tanaka simply put his hand behind his head, palm up. Nishinoya gave him a resounding high five.

Shizuku looked as confused as Asahi felt. “O-okay. I can do that, I guess.”

“Cool.” Tanaka settled back against the couch. “Noya and Asahi-san’ll pick you up at your place at 7, and I’ll have the feast of your dreams ready at the restaurant. What’s your address, by the way?”

* * *

As the others lost themselves in the video, exclaiming at the talent on the screen, Asahi settled deeply into the couch pillows. Nishinoya leaned against his bent knee, sipping his beer, having no concept of the heat he was pulsing into Asahi’s leg. Tanaka, seated on the floor next to Shizuku, had casually slipped an arm along the couch. Not hugging her but definitely sticking pretty close. 

Asahi spent most of the night wondering how it was possible to feel so confused and so comfortable all at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi glanced down at Nishinoya. Damn , he was… tiny and blushy and had really pretty eyes. But he still packed a lot of muscle for his size. The compression shirt from Monday’s workout fluttered in Asahi’s brain. 
> 
> “D’you even come up to my chest?” Asahi wondered.
> 
> Nishinoya blinked. “Um. Well.” He shuffled forward a couple steps. Looked up. “No.”
> 
> Asahi grinned. “With your hair you do.”
> 
> “Shut up.” Nishinoya frowned. “Y’ like my hair.”
> 
> “Yeah.” Asahi saw his own hand reach out, fingers combing through the black and bleached spikes. “Yeah, I do.” 
> 
> Nishinoya’s eyes widened. Then his brow did this… cute furrow thing. And his eyes drifted shut. And — Asahi bent to look closer — he was biting his lip? “Stop that,” Asahi whispered. He tugged at Nishinoya’s lip gently with his thumb until his mouth opened a little.

Asahi grunted with the strain of putting the bar back into the rest slowly, controlled. Bad gym etiquette, but he lay back on the bench for the beat of a few moments, letting his heart slow and his mind wander.

It was after five p.m. on Tuesday. An unusual time for him to be at the gym. He liked getting it out of the way in the morning, but. Asahi frowned. That wouldn’t be an option until he figured a few damn things out.

Saturday night, he’d walked back to his apartment buzzed, confused, and warm. Nishinoya hadn’t moved from beside him all night while Tanaka tested the level of flirting that Shizuku could deal with.

Sunday, he’d gone to the indoor track to blow off some gathering steam. Nishinoya had been playing pickup basketball on one of the courts below. Asahi had nearly run into three people before he realized that he was watching the game.

Monday morning, Asahi had walked into the gym just as the men’s volleyball team was finishing its last circuits. It looked like a back day for Nishinoya; his compression shirt highlighted tight, rippling lats all throughout a set of backward crunches. Asahi had nearly dropped a ten-kilo weight on his own foot.

He decided that athletic teams should just reserve the weight room to themselves when they used it. Honestly, they took up the whole place, and no one else could really use it anyway. Annoying.

So. _Tuesday._ Today. Asahi had checked the volleyball team’s workout schedule on the bulletin board in the sports med training room. It was information he should keep in mind anyway. As a trainer. And it wouldn’t hurt him to have a quieter workout too.

Unfortunately, his focus was still absolute shit. He stared at the bar overhead.

Someone coughed. “You, uh, you done there, man?”

“Augh! Sorry!” Asahi bolted upright from the bench, nearly braining himself on the bar. _Really,_ he thought as he changed his shoes, _no Nishinoya until you figure some shit out._

A great plan.

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

**_Tanaka_ **

_You guys ready? Bringin my A game tonight!_

_Oh._ Asahi sighed heavily. He tapped in a quick “you bet!” in response to show willing.

Well. It would have been a great plan. If he wasn’t pretty much going on a double date with Nishinoya tonight.

* * *

He was late.

Asahi threw a stressed glance at his watch and started to jog. It would only be a few more minutes to Shizuku’s apartment, he wouldn’t have time to work up a sweat in this cold. He’d be fine.

He really didn’t want Nishinoya to get there first and assume that Asahi was trying to play cupid again by being accidentally-on-purpose late.

Asahi grimaced. This was all Nishinoya’s fault anyway. Asahi was goddamn late — he hated being late — because he’d been staring at his closet trying to figure out what to wear. Him! Asahi! Honestly, what had he expected to come up with by taking so long? His entire wardrobe was dark jeans, boots, and a variety of very safe T-shirts, sweaters, and athletic gear. He had one pair of deep red skinny jeans he’d worn once (never again), and they remained tucked in the back of his closet. He’d very nearly even put them on, before he decided that it would look like he was trying too hard.

“Hey! Little _prick,_ was I talking to you?!”

Asahi instantly slowed to a cautious walk, glancing around for the source of the angry shouts. He didn’t know anyone in these apartments — well, except for Shizuku now — and it was hard to place the—

“You are _now,_ asshole!” a second voice yelled. A familiar voice. Asahi’s heart jumped into his throat.

_Nishinoya._

He spotted them. Nishinoya, Shizuku, and — _shit_ — some really tall guy with shoulders like mountains. They were on the second floor of a building not half a block away. _Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck._ Asahi broke into a run.

“You want me to talk to you? All right, I’m talking to you,” the tall man said. Loud. Brazen. Something in Asahi roared. “I asked Shizuku a question, and unless you think you own her or somethin’, I’m not interested in _you_ answering!”

“You _fucking_ —!”

“Noya-san!” Shizuku’s voice was panicked but strong.

Asahi was just clearing the low hedge between buildings, the stairs in his sights.

“What, can’t let him get into trouble?” A harsh laugh. “You dating this shrimp or something?”

NIshinoya snarled. “So what if she is—”

“We’re not dating!” Shizuku shouted. “Noya-san, you don’t need to lie!”

The tall man snorted. “Who’d believe that anyway? You, with a tall chick? Maybe. You’d need _someone_ to kick my ass for you. Of course, if Shizuku wanted to...” He let the sentence linger suggestively.

Asahi clenched his jaw and grabbed the stair railing.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Shizuku snapped. “But I’d watch out for Noya-san’s boyfriend if I were you.”

“H-huh?” Nishinoya’s voice held several layers of panic.

“Chibi-chan’s got a boyfriend?” Glee dripped from every word. “Ohmygod, _who?"_

Asahi cleared the last step, rage pouring off of him. “Hi,” he growled.

The man turned around, and Asahi recognized him. Kibikino. Point guard on the basketball team. A starter. A loudmouth. And gaping like a fish out of water.

There were moments when Asahi felt like his huge body was almost worth the trouble it caused him the rest of the time. He had one or two centimeters on the guy and more than a few kilograms.

Kibikino stepped back. Glanced at Nishinoya. Then back at Asahi. “Um,” he said.

“What’s up?” Asahi tried to sound pleasant. He really did. But he’d heard enough, and he’d heard stuff from this guy’s mouth before, and he wasn’t entirely in the mood, to be honest.

The basketball player’s lip curled. “Nice timing. You must be the boyfriend.”

Asahi folded his arms, choosing to ignore that statement as something he frankly didn’t know what to do with. He shoved it in a mental box marked To Look At Later. “You had a question for Shizuku?” he asked. His voice was still too aggressive.

“Nah.” A glance tossed over a shoulder, as though all interest was gone. “Not fuckin’ worth the trouble.”

Asahi walked around the player, cutting him off from Nishinoya and Shizuku. “Cool.” He stood as tall as he could in front of the two of them. “See you at your game next weekend.”

Kibikino held his gaze, hard and steady. “Oh, yeah. I recognize you now. Azumane. The guy that holds the athletic tape.”

“Oi—!” Nishinoya started forward, but Asahi casually stepped in front of him again.

“And the guy who knows how to loosen your calf cramps in seven seconds.” Asahi grinned. “You should drink more water.”

Kibikino’s jaw clenched. He offered a tight smile. “So.” He waved a hand at the three of them. “You guys fucking each other? Or you both fucking her?”

 _Well. It’s not like I’ve never been suspended before._ Asahi took a step forward. He didn’t have to look to know that Nishinoya was right behind him.

“Okaaaaaaaayyy!” Shizuku halted him with a hand to his shoulder. “We have _really_ got to go, we are going to be so late, I don’t even know what we’ll tell Tanaka, this is awful.” She patted Asahi a little harder than necessary. “Are we ready to go? I’m ready to go. Let’s go. Come on, Noya-san.”

Asahi found himself being shoved past the point guard, toward the steps. “Bye, Kibikino-san!” Shizuku sang. Asahi glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Nishinoya flipping the other guy off. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that Shizuku was dragging him down the stairs by his wrist.

Shizuku looped her arms through both of their elbows and marched off down the sidewalk. Asahi noted that she was walking _fast._ Not that he had any trouble with the pace, but Nishinoya was having to take two steps for every stride she made.

“Um.” Asahi cleared his throat. “Everyone all right?”

“Just a little further,” Shizuku whispered. “I just need… I need to power walk like three more minutes. Then I’ll collapse in the street, and you can both yell at me, okay?”

“Yell at you?” Nishinoya repeated, incredulous. “You were _awesome!_ You probably saved that guy’s life.”

Shizuku smirked. “His life? I saved both your asses from getting suspended. Probably fined.”

“Yeah, well.” Nishinoya sniffed.

“Anyway, Azumane-san was the star of the show. ‘HI,’” Shizuku growled. “‘I’M HERE TO FUCK SOMEONE UP.’”

Asahi groaned. His heart was starting to pound for real now. What had he been thinking?

Nishinoya nodded. “That’s totally how it went. Asahi-san’s a freak when he’s mad.”

Shizuku gasped. “You’ve seen that before?”

“Angry Asahi-san is a rare treasure,” Nishinoya promised with the air of a connoisseur. “Tanaka will be sad he missed it.”

“Noyaaaaaaa,” Asahi moaned. “We could have gotten in real trouble back there! We were all being incredibly stupid. It’s a miracle Shizuku pulled our heads out of our asses in time!”

“Oh, _whatever._ ” Nishinoya rolled his eyes. “You were hot!”

Silence fell over the three of them like snow. Like ten feet of snow all at once. As in, not delicately or gently or prettily.

Shizuku clicked her tongue softly. “So there’s that.”

Asahi was grateful she still had her arm looped through his. He probably would have… well, he might have… certainly sitting down in the middle of the sidewalk sounded like a good option. He glanced over at Nishinoya, completely unable to stop himself.

Nishinoya was staring at the ground. Eyes wide, face red, hand over his mouth.

“Um,” Shizuku began uncertainly, “oh, sorry about the, uh, the boyfriend comment. You know, earlier. That was… I mean, I didn’t want you to lie about you and me, but I shouldn’t have — I mean, I don’t know if you’re — um. Sorry.”

Asahi couldn’t have torn his eyes off of Nishinoya if he’d been paid.

Nishinoya grinned, faint and small. “No worries. Either or, it’s never much worried me. People are people are people. To me.” He lifted his head and looked straight ahead. “Not like I’m just telling the world all about that though.”

“Right. Yeah.” Shizuku sighed. “I’m so sorry. God, and in front of that asshole of all people. I’m really sorry—”

“You know, I think we’re taking the long way into the izakaya district,” Nishinoya said suddenly. “Asahi-san, you wanna text Tanaka that we’re on the way?”

“Huh?” Asahi jerked. “Oh. Right. Uh.” He held onto his phone with both hands as he typed.

* * *

 

The Tanaka family izakaya wasn’t far from campus. At 7 on a weeknight, only a handful of salarymen dotted the bar. Asahi recognized a couple professors, but it looked to be a quiet evening.

“Hey, you guys made it!” Tanaka greeted them from behind the counter. He set a plate of something hot and sizzling in front of a balding man in a suit. “We’re at the table back there, I’ll be over in a sec.”

One of the tearoom tables, Asahi noticed. Tanaka was really going all out tonight. He shook his head. _Right._ Tonight was for Tanaka and Shizuku. His own confused _whatever_ needed to chill.

Tanaka set down a dish of roasted gingko nuts as everyone else settled onto cushions around the low table. “Get started on these,” he said. “Hi, Shizuku.” He flashed her a grin.

Shizuku’s answering smile was cautious. “Looks great, thanks. Hi.”

Nishinoya leaned forward. “So do we get beer with dinner, or…?”

“Anything for you, Noya-chan.” Tanaka patted him on the head. “I was going to offer, thanks for waiting and making me look good. Anyone else?”

“Shochu?” Shizuku asked.

Tanaka straightened. “Sure. On the rocks?”

“Neat, please.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Nice. Asahi-san?”

Asahi was definitely drinking tonight. “Beer for me too.”

Nishinoya cracked open a gingko nut as Tanaka retreated to the bar. “Asahi-san’s drinking on a weeknight?”

“I am just a little bit shaken, thanks so much.” Asahi tucked some hair behind his ear that had fallen from his bun. “Fights are not my favorite thing.”

“Same.” Shizuku wrapped two hands behind her neck and leaned her elbows on the table. “That was… not fun.”

“What did he want anyway?” Asahi asked.

Nishinoya scowled. “Asshole saw us together leaving her apartment. Asked if she liked ‘em tiny.”

Asahi clenched his jaw. “Ah.”

Shizuku groaned and didn’t lift her head. “He lives like four doors down from me. Always has some comment to make. They’re usually not that bad though.”

“What a dick,” Nishinoya said with feeling. “You thought about moving?”

“It’s really never been that bad!”

Asahi grabbed the nutcracker, focused on cracking a few open. He didn’t like a lot of things right now. He didn’t like anyone talking to anyone like that. He especially didn’t like some asshat jock talking to a nice person like Shizuku like that. And he _really_ didn’t like Nishinoya getting in the middle of it with a bigger guy who could and probably would mess him up pretty bad.

“You just gotta hang out with us more,” Nishinoya said. “He won’t bug you if he knows you’re with us.”

Shizuku laughed. “Think that’ll work?”

“No question.” Nishinoya jabbed his chest with a thumb. “Volleyball against basketball. My punches are way more deadly.”

Asahi pictured Kibikino aiming a punch at Nishinoya’s face and — _crack!_ — he managed to shatter the shell and smash the nut underneath. He threw the whole thing onto the growing pile of empty shells.

Shizuku clicked her tongue. “Your eye’s looking a lot better, Noya-san. You really don’t need to try to get another one so fast.”

“Whoa, what?” Tanaka walked up with a tray of drinks. “What happened?”

“Some complete assclown talked shit to Shizuku when we picked her up,” Nishinoya groused. “But no worries, Asahi-san and I made him back up.”

Tanaka paused in the midst of handing out beer cans. “Um. Okay, what?” He glanced from Nishinoya to Asahi to Shizuku. “Who was it? What’d he say?”

Asahi put a hand out before Nishinoya could blurt out the man’s name. “Just some idiot. You’re not going to go out and find him, Tanaka, please.”

“No promises.” Tanaka’s grin was tight. “What do you mean, you made him back up?”

“Oooo!” Nishinoya leaned forward. “Asahi-san was _intense._ He basically just stood there and glowered. How are you so scary when you’re so polite?”

Asahi wiped a hand over his face. “I was hardly polite. I was being a meathead, just as bad as he was.”

“Aw, man!” Tanaka straightened. “Why can’t I ever be the cool one? Shizuku, I’m walking you home.”

Her face went pink. “That’s… hardly. Well, I mean, Azumane-san and Noya-san are already—”

“Nope. My turn. They can fuck off.” He winked at her. “Be right back with dinner.”

 _Damn._ Asahi watched Tanaka disappear into the kitchen. _When did he get so smooth?_

“That cool?” Nishinoya peered at Shizuku. “Asahi-san and I can still walk you home if you’d rather. I know you just met him.”

“And I met you, what, a day earlier?” But Shizuku looked pleased. “No, it’ll be fine. You guys have fun walking back alone.” She sipped her drink, not looking at them.

It was Asahi’s turn to go pink. “T-Tanaka’s a good guy,” he blurted. “He won’t do anything.”

“Tanaka’s an _angel,"_ Nishinoya insisted. “Kibi-what’s-his-name better stay inside all night.”

“Those two sentences don’t really go together,” Asahi pointed out nervously.

Shizuku blinked. Then laughed, loud and clear and happy.

“Goddammit, you guys.” Tanaka appeared at the table balancing a huge tray of steaming dishes. “No more funny stories till I sit down, okay?!”

* * *

 

Asahi waved, but Tanaka and Shizuku didn’t really pay him any attention as they parted ways. Shizuku because she was concentrating on walking, and Tanaka because he was concentrating on Shizuku.

Asahi wasn’t much better off himself. He grinned down at Nishinoya. “Where to next?” he said happily. Drunkenly. A little. Whatever. Dinner had been really good, and Tanaka’s dad had kept coming over with more beer. Tanaka’s dad was awesome.

Nishinoya raised an eyebrow. “Next? You wanna go drink somewhere else?”

“Would.” But Asahi started off toward his apartment. The voice inside his head that had been insisting he keep his distance from Nishinoya was still present after all. _Gotta figure shit out. Gotta get my head straight before — ha! Straight. Ha. Joke._

Nishinoya fell into clumsy step next to him. “Probably a party somewhere we could drop in on.”

“Mm.” Other people sounded less than fun. Nishinoya was fun. Other people not so much.

“I don’t have any booze at my place anymore,” Nishinoya pointed out. “We drank it all Saturday.”

“Mm.” Too bad. That would have been fun. Saturday had been fun. Tonight was fun.

“Do you have any?” Nishinoya asked after a pause.

“Mm… yeah!” Asahi’s eyes lit up. “Got whiskey.”

“Whi — _why?"_

“Gag gift from Daichi.”

“Good ol’ Daichi,” Nishinoya intoned. “Let’s drink it.”

“Mm.”

“Asahi… san. You still mad at me?”

Asahi glanced down at Nishinoya. _Damn_ , he was… tiny and blushy and had _really_ pretty eyes. But he still packed a lot of muscle for his size. The compression shirt from Monday’s workout fluttered in Asahi’s brain.  

“D’you even come up to my chest?” Asahi wondered.

Nishinoya blinked. “Um. Well.” He shuffled forward a couple steps. Looked up. “No.”

Asahi grinned. “With your hair you do.”

“Shut up.” Nishinoya frowned. “Y’ like my hair.”

“Yeah.” Asahi saw his own hand reach out, fingers combing through the black and bleached spikes. “Yeah, I do.”  

Nishinoya’s eyes widened. Then his brow did this… cute furrow thing. And his eyes drifted shut. And — Asahi bent to look closer — he was biting his lip? “Stop that,” Asahi whispered. He tugged at Nishinoya’s lip gently with his thumb until his mouth opened a little.

His bottom lip was soft. It tasted soft. Can a mouth taste soft? Nishinoya’s mouth tasted a little like gingko nuts and a little like beer and a lot like wonderful.

Nishinoya sighed over his lips, and Asahi felt him grab the front of his jacket. So cute. Sweet, cute Nishinoya. Asahi’s eyes flew open when Nishinoya licked at the corner of his mouth. _Not sweet. Hot as fuck. Damn._

What.

_What._

Asahi dropped his hands from Nishinoya’s hair. Tried to raise his head through the cloud of booze and panic, but Nishinoya grabbed the back of his neck and brought his head back down.

“No,” Nishinoya whispered. “Please, just for now. Promise I won’t—” He cut off his own sentence, pressing his lips against Asahi’s.

His hands were hot against his neck, and his mouth moved over Asahi’s. Firm. Warm. Nishinoya was so warm. How? His jacket was open, and it was cold out. Asahi’s hands slid around the smaller boy’s ribs, inside the jacket. Nishinoya gasped, and Asahi felt _wow_ burst from his heart and spread through his chest.

Asahi’s head was spinning. This was too much and not enough, and he wanted more and a lot lot lot less so he could put his brain back in his head maybe. He dropped his head to Nishinoya’s shoulder, only slightly worried about flattening him.

Nishinoya put a hand on the side of his face, turned into the crook of his neck, and Asahi gasped at the feel of warm lips on his throat. “N-Noy _aaaa,"_ he hissed. _Goddammit._ Nishinoya’s tongue under his ear was not… not helping anything. “Shit.”

Nishinoya went still, hands, mouth, everything.

The world was quiet under the streetlamps. All Asahi could hear was his blood roaring in his own ears.

“You’re a lot more drunk than I am. Aren’t you?” Nishinoya whispered.

 _How is that even possible?_ Asahi gripped Nishinoya’s waist tightly. Asahi was like twice his size, probably literally. He should _not_ be the most out of it right now. He should be the one… taking care of Noya. “Noya,” was all he could manage.

“Fuck.” Nishinoya’s voice was low. He blew out a breath and stepped back. He braced his hands on Asahi’s shoulders and pushed gently.

Asahi looked down at him blearily. “Wanna stay,” he mumbled. “‘m cold.”

“Oh my god.” It was barely a whisper. “You do not make this easy.” Nishinoya turned to stand at his side and looped Asahi’s arm over his shoulders. “I’m dumping your ass at your place. Where I am definitely not staying.”

“Could.” Asahi tried to keep his eyes open enough so he could see the sidewalk just in front of him. Nishinoya was warm, and his apartment was going to be cold. And dark. The idea was so depressing, he wanted to cry.

“... Asahi-san.” Nishinoya sounded exasperated.

“We were gonna drink more. Thought,” Asahi tried to protest.

Nishinoya slipped an arm around his waist, and Asahi smiled at the warmth of their sides pressed together. “If I let you drink anymore tonight, you’d never speak to me again,” Nishinoya retorted.

Asahi faintly recognized the steps they were walking up. “My place.”

“Yep. Gimme your keys.”

Asahi chuckled as he fished his keys from his pocket. And promptly dropped them on the floor. “Did this for you las’ weekend.”

“Wow.” Nishinoya reached down and picked up the keys. He unlocked the door. “I was not this bad. No way.”

“Were too,” Asahi insisted, even as Nishinoya shoved him into his own apartment. A strong hand on his arm spun him around, and he just managed to catch himself on the doorjam.

Nishinoya’s eyes were fierce as he grabbed the front of Asahi’s jacket. “Was not.” And he yanked Asahi’s face down to his.

Asahi clutched the doorframe, trying to stay upright as Nishinoya’s tongue tasted his. He inhaled deeply, wanting more, wanting too much, _want, want._ It was over too fast, and he found himself following when Nishinoya pulled away.

“You—” Nishinoya put a hand on his chest. “—had better damn well remember this in the morning.” He turned to walk away. “All of it.”

Asahi watched until the spiky hair disappeared down the steps. He shut his apartment door, leaned back against it, and slid to the floor.

How… was he going to forget it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t regret it,” he said, keeping his voice serious. “I just have to know if you do.”
> 
> Nishinoya’s cheeks went pink, but he didn’t look away. “No,” he said hoarsely.
> 
> “Ah.” Asahi watched him, mesmerized. Blushing Nishinoya was… something. “Did you like it?” Holy shit, where did THAT come from?
> 
> Nishinoya sucked in a short breath. “Ha. You gotta ask? I mean. Look at your neck, for god’s sake.”
> 
> Asahi had to look at the floor then. “Well. Well, you were drunk too.” His voice was barely above a whisper. He hazarded a glance up at Nishinoya.
> 
> Nishinoya hugged his knees to his chest and gave him a slow grin. “You asking if I would’ve done it sober?”

Asahi woke up with a groan. He was lying on the floor just inside his apartment door. His cheek came off the cheap linoleum with a  _ schluck_-ing sound as he sat up. 

“Blugh.” He swiped at his mouth. He’d drooled, and he felt cold and slimy and… Asahi leaned to one side so he could see to the window in the back of the kitchen. Still black outside.

“Good god, what time….?” He fumbled with his phone. Peered at it blearily. 

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Duuuuuuddddes, I’m gonna marry this girl. _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Gonna do it. she’s amazin _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Nothin stop me. She n me, were made for each other. _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Soooooooooo beautiful. So hot. wonder if she woulda let me kiss her _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ should i have tried you think? _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ mabye not. too soon? idk she didn’t seem that into me _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ was she into me? was i cool?  _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ ggguuuuyyyyyssssssss tell me i was cool _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ lie and tell me i was cool _

**_Noya_ **

_ OH MY GOD RYU IT IS 2 AM I SWEAR _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ oh hey man! how was ur night? [wink emoji] _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ you and asahi-san okay? [wink emoji wink emoji wink emoji] _

Asahi scrolled up to the beginning of the text log and all the way back down again. That was it. A flurry of texts from 2:06 a.m. until sudden silence at 2:08.

Noya never responded. Asahi swallowed. Should  _ he  _ respond? It was after five now. They were both probably asleep. He gripped his phone, got to his feet, and stumbled into the bathroom.

“Oh, god.” He looked like death. A scraggly, hungover death. Most of his hair was out of his bun and falling in his face, dark circles waged war underneath his eyes, his mouth tasted like hell, and — what the fuck was  _ that?  _

Asahi leaned toward the mirror. He craned his neck, ran a hand underneath his ear. What a weird place to have a bruise— 

“ _Oh. GOD._ ” 

He slapped a hand over his neck. Now fully awake, he stared back at his reflection in horror. Jaw clenched, eyes wide, Asahi drew in short, panicked breaths through his nose. Snippets of the night before, just  _ hours  _ earlier, began flashing through his brain like a flipbook. A flipbook drawn by someone with an awful,  _ awful _ sense of humor.

Asahi sank to the floor of the bathroom, his hands gripping the sink above him.  “No. No no nononon _ nono_.” 

How could he have _kissed_ Nishinoya?! Kissed, let’s be real, they’d practically made out in the street! Asahi was older by a  _year_ , he should be guiding and leading and watching out for Noya, not… not… whatever _that_ was! 

Asahi brought one hand shakily to his mouth. He’d kissed Nishinoya. 

And then.

Nishinoya had kissed him  _ back.  _

Asahi rose just enough to check the mirror again. He sank back down to his knees.  _ Definitely a hickey. Oh my god, Noya gave me a  _ hickey.  _ Okay, okay, calm down. If I have a… then that means… you wouldn’t give someone a hickey if you… didn’t like what was going on? Right? _

Deep breath. 

Stand up. 

Brush your teeth. 

Asahi ran water over his toothbrush solemnly. He had an anatomy quiz in four hours. If he set his alarm to go off in three, he should be fine. He’d been studying. 

_ OHMYGOD, did Noya like kissing me?? _

_ Shut up. Shut up. Stop thinking about that, there’s way too much you don’t know, my god, just… just go to bed! Like a normal person.  _

Asahi dragged himself to his futon. Pulled the duvet over his head, slowly. Passing out on the floor, really, it was like he had no self control. He set his alarm. 

_ What the hell am I going to do now. _

* * *

 

Asahi threw on a scarf (casual, perfect for spring, no one would think anything of it), and he debated texting Nishinoya before his quiz. Just to be an adult and acknowledge the situation. This wasn’t high school. He didn’t run away anymore.

He didn’t text him.

_ Focus on school. School first, relationships later.  _

_ Not that this is a Relationship. _

Asahi thought about sending him a chat while he studied in the library after class. But he was there to study, after all. They both had full schedules on Wednesdays, he knew. 

After his last class, Asahi glanced at his watch, knowing full well it was after three. Three o’clock, and he still hadn’t had the nerve to try to contact Nishinoya in any way. 

_ But he hasn’t tried to call me either. Stop that. Don’t worry about what he’s doing or not doing. You… you figure out your own shit first.  _

Asahi clenched his jaw and started to pull up Nishinoya’s contact on his phone. He nearly dropped it when it vibrated.

**_Tanaka_ **

_ I’m gonna do it guys. Im asking her out. I got her number, gonna do this the old-fashioned way.  _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Just gonna call her up. Make it happen. _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ ohmygod i’m freaking out. should i play it cool? Should i not? _

Asahi lifted his chin, looking down at his phone. If Tanaka could do it…

**_You_ **

_ go for it. cheering you on! _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ Yeah! yeah i got this! i’ll let you know! _

**_Tanaka_ **

_ i’m coming over to your place if this goes to shit. be warned _

Asahi didn’t bother replying. Tanaka would ask Shizuku out, she would (probably) say yes, and then Tanaka could start stressing about planning a date instead of stressing about if she liked him or not. A vastly preferable situation.

Adahi blew out a sharp breath.  _ Right.  _ He dialed. 

“.......”

“.......”

“... — Hey, Asahi-san!”

Asahi closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Nishinoya sounded like he always did. This didn’t have to be difficult. “Hey,” he managed. Unfortunately, that was as far as he got before his brain abandoned him entirely.

“Um.” Nishinoya sounded a shade more unsure this time. “So. How you feeling?”

Asahi grasped for the question like a drowning man. “Fine! Fine. Head aches a little.”

“Still?” Nishinoya huffed a laugh, and Asahi felt himself relax the tiniest bit. “Should be over that by now. Unless… um. You, uh, remember how much you drank last night?”

Asahi bit his lip.  _ What a careful question.  _ “Yeah, I think I remember… uh. Everything.”

“Ah.” Nishinoya said absolutely nothing else.

“Yeah,” Asahi said again. “Um. Can I just—?”

“Look, do you want to—?”

“I’m sorry, you were saying—”

“No, go ahead, sorry, didn’t mean to…”

Asahi covered his face with his hand. “You wanna meet me somewhere?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

Asahi tried not to gulp audibly. Nishinoya sounded determined. Which could mean anything really. “Maybe the campus coffee shop? We’ll get those big chairs in the back.”

“Ah. The breakup chairs.”

Asahi’s stomach fell into his shoes. “Wh-what?”

“Oh! Um. No, it’s, uh, just what some of the…  _ fuck _ … freshmen call them because, ha, you know they’re kind of out of the way?” Nishinoya spoke quickly. “But still in, in public, so you can have, aha, conversations that — you know what? I’m just gonna meet you there. Ten minutes?”

_ God in heaven.  _ Asahi squeezed his eyes shut tight. “Yup! I’ll be there.” He ended the call.

Ten minutes. It would take him four to get to the campus shop from the library. He was grateful for the somewhat isolated desk he’d found deep in the stacks. Asahi was pretty sure his face was on fire.

He ran a hand underneath his scarf, up the side of his neck. Hickeys didn’t fade overnight, he knew that much. 

Nishinoya had willingly given Asahi a hickey.

A physical mark that said,  _ yes, I kissed this person and I didn’t think it was that bad honestly. _

That was… well.

Nishinoya was…  so  _ cool_, of course. Obviously. He’d always been, even in high school. 

Asahi ran light fingers over his mouth absentmindedly. Kissing Nishinoya… 

“Oh my god.” Asahi stood abruptly and threw his bag over his shoulder. So what if he was early?

* * *

 

Except Nishinoya was already there.

He was curled up in one of the big chairs in the back of the shop, in a fetal position that Asahi could never hope to emulate. He had on a light denim jacket, dark jeans rolled up his shins, and… oh shit. He was wearing glasses.

“Um. Sorry. You’re blocking the door…?”

Asahi jerked out of the way with a muttered apology.  _ Fuck_. He glanced over at Nishinoya. Who was now looking straight back at him. _ FUCK. _

Asahi adjusted his scarf nervously and ran a hand through his hair as he walked over to him. Stood in front of his chair awkwardly. “H-hi.” His heart picked up the pace when Nishinoya looked up at him over his glasses.

“Why’re you wearing a scarf?”

Asahi’s eyes went wide. “Uh…”

“Holy shit,” Nishinoya breathed. “No way.” He knelt on his chair and tugged at the scarf. As it fell away, his mouth dropped open. “Holy shit.”

Asahi buried his face in both hands. 

Nishinoya sat back hard in his chair, still clutching the scarf. “Is  _ that  _ how you remembered?”

“No! No, I…” Asahi put a hand over his neck. “Well. Kind of.”

Nishinoya fiddled with his glasses and looked down at the notebook he had in his lap. “You mad?” he asked quietly.

Asahi sat quickly in the other chair. “What? No! No, no, no, of course not. I…  _ you  _ should be mad,” he finished, cringing.

“Oh my g—” Nishinoya slammed his notebook shut, a pen rolling away onto the floor. “Why should I be mad?”

“Because I… Noya, I was drunk,” Asahi half-whispered. “I’m really sor—”

“If you apologize, so help me, I will give you an eye to match mine, I swear.” Nishinoya regarded him sternly. “It was just a little makeout. Nothing to lose sleep over.”

“I didn’t, actually. I fell asleep on the — wait,  _ just  _ a makeout?”

“Drunk shit happens, I’m not going to, like, make a big deal out of it when you’re so uncomfortable.”

Asahi cocked his head. “Am I uncomfortable? I mean,  _ yes_, okay, I kind of am, but… we should talk about this.” He cleared his throat. 

Nishinoya laughed humorlessly. “What would you like to say, Asahi-san? That you regret starting something last night?”

“I—!” An image flashed into Asahi’s mind of his own fingers combing through black and bleached hair. The way Nishinoya had closed his eyes and bit his lip. Asahi tried to force the heat back from his face.  _ You totally started it. Own up and deal. _

Asahi leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t regret it,” he said, keeping his voice serious. “I just have to know if you do.”

Nishinoya’s cheeks went pink, but he didn’t look away. “No,” he said hoarsely. 

“Ah.” Asahi watched him, mesmerized. Blushing Nishinoya was… something. “Did you like it?”  _ Holy shit, where did THAT come from? _

Nishinoya sucked in a short breath. “Ha. You gotta ask? I mean. Look at your neck, for god’s sake.”

Asahi  _ had  _ to look at the floor then. “Well. Well, you were drunk too.” His voice was barely above a whisper. He hazarded a glance up at Nishinoya.

Nishinoya hugged his knees to his chest and gave him a slow grin. “You asking if I would’ve done it sober?”

Asahi had no idea what his face was saying at the moment, but something deep inside was quietly screaming,  _ WELL WOULD YOU? BECAUSE HEY.  _

Nishinoya sighed. “Not to put a ton of pressure on you — and there’s no way I’d be saying this if last night hadn’t happened — but I would have been cool with it if you’d kissed me two years ago.”

Asahi wiped a hand over his mouth.  _ Holy shit. _

“But last night totally happened, and  _ you  _ started it.” Nishinoya bit back his smile. “You told me I could come home with you.”

Asahi groaned and hid his face in his hands again. He’d remembered, of course, but he’d sort of hoped Nishinoya hadn’t. “What about all that drunk-shit-happens stuff, this-isn’t-a-big-deal, yada yada?” he mumbled.

Nishinoya coughed. “Yeah, well. That was before you said you — that was before.” His voice turned serious. “I mean, you liked it too. Right?”

Asahi’s face was going to burn through his hands, he knew it. 

“C’mon, Asahi-san.” Nishinoya’s laugh sounded nervous. “I’m bein’ all, you know, vulnerable here and everything.”

“I liked it,” Asahi muttered. He knew his voice was muffled, but dammit, this was really hard.

“Huh?” Nishinoya tugged his hands down. The way those big gold eyes looked behind glasses was just unfair.

“I liked it,” Asahi said again, a bit louder. He clenched his jaw and tried very hard not to look away, at the ground, at the wall, anything. But he  _ had  _ liked it, and if Nishinoya seemed to… then. 

Nishinoya was looking back at him with an expression that was difficult to describe, really. Something about the bright eyes, the flushed cheeks, and the proud little smile made Asahi ask, “You wanna get dinner somewhere?”

“Do I—?” Nishinoya shot up out of his chair and started shoving his things into his bag. “Do I want to get dinner at 3:30? Yes, I do. Let’s go. Here, put this on.” He held out Asahi’s scarf.

“Ah!” Asahi yanked at the scarf. “I didn’t realize—! I mean, we don’t have to… we can wait!”

Nishinoya threw his bag over his shoulder. “Why are you still sitting there?” 

Asahi blinked, then laughed. “You know I move slower than you.” He wound the scarf around his neck as he stood.

Nishinoya grabbed his arm and marched for the door, mumbling something suspiciously like, “Shocking.”

* * *

 

They got ramen, because it was close, because it was cheap, and because Asahi was determined to pay for Nishinoya’s meal. Except Nishinoya tried to pay for Asahi’s, which he hadn’t been expecting, and the flustered cashier finally picked Asahi’s credit card with his eyes closed.

“That was cheating,” Nishinoya insisted, bumping into Asahi on the way out the door. “You put it in his hand.”

“You shouldn’t have fought me on it,” Asahi said mildly. He felt better now. More relaxed. Dinner at 3:30 was kind of weird, but—

“Yeah, well, you should’ve let me at least pay for our first date when you were the one who started our first kiss,” Nishinoya huffed.

Asahi’s foot caught on the pavement. “Um. W-well, you can… you can get the next one. Then. Um.”

Nishinoya glanced up at him, a slow grin spreading over his face. “Yeah? So we’re really calling this a date, huh?”

Nishinoya had such a great smile. Asahi blew out a breath. “Sure. We can… we can do that.”  _ Oh my god, I just went on a date with Nishinoya. Oh my GOD. _

“So that means…” Nishinoya stopped and looked around. He grabbed Asahi’s arm and pulled him around the corner of the restaurant. He flattened Asahi against the side of the building, standing on tiptoe  and gripping his upper arms. “I get to start our second kiss then.”

Asahi stared down at him, his face on fire. The brick was cold against his back, but he hardly noticed. Nishinoya looked like he was about to eat him. “Is, um, that how it works?”

“Consolation prize,” Nishinoya purred. “You don’t get to take the lead all the time.” He put a hand behind Asahi’s neck, and Asahi tried his very best not to gasp out loud. 

“Um, okay, as much as I’d like to completely be in control, I’m gonna need some help here,” Nishinoya grumbled, glaring up at him. 

“Oh! Oh, um.” Asahi lowered his head, and then it was the easiest thing in the world to let his eyes drift shut as Nishinoya closed the distance. 

Nishinoya’s fingers tightened on the back of his neck, and his other hand curled around his bicep. He sighed into Asahi’s mouth. It was much less sloppy than last night, a touch more controlled and gentle and warm, and Asahi loved how softly Nishinoya moved his mouth over his. Just slow pressure on his bottom lip, nothing demanding, only a bit of repositioning here and there. 

Asahi tilted his head further to the side for a better angle — yeah, the ramen taste was still there, and he wondered what freshly brushed teeth would be like, but he wasn’t about to complain. He reached for the collar of that sexy little denim jacket and pulled Nishinoya into him. 

“Whoa,” Nishinoya mumbled. His hand slipped from Asahi’s neck to rest against his chest. He slowly set his feet flat on the ground again, his face looking down at the pavement. 

Asahi watched, a little frightened. “S-sorry! That was too much, wasn’t it?” He held Nishinoya’s shoulders, unsure of everything.

“Mm.” Nishinoya patted Asahi’s chest. He lifted his head finally and blew out a breath through his nose. “Let’s, uh. Um.”

Asahi was worried. Nishinoya was never at a loss for words. Was it that bad when they were sober? “Noya?” he managed, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt.

“Yeah?” Nishinoya licked his lips. He looked frazzled.

“Was that… not what you were expecting?” Asahi felt his heart sink a little.

“Um. Not really, no. Let’s, uh, should we go?”

_ Fuck.  _ Asahi tried for a grin. “Sure, yeah, no problem. Your place is on the way to mine, so. I’ll walk with you that far?”

“Uh huh.” Nishinoya turned slowly.

Asahi fell into step next to him, trying to will the worry away from his face.  _ So. So that wasn’t good. So… no more dates? Just a stupid experiment, I guess?  _ That thought felt rather surprisingly awful.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Asahi could hardly stand it. 

Finally, Nishinoya began, “Asahi-san—”

“ _Yes_ , yes, what?”

“Um. Do you—? How much do you…?” 

“Noya,” Asahi said after Nishinoya trailed off, “you are kind of killing me. What’s wrong? Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

“Ha.” Nishinoya rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. “No. You’re fucking perfect. Unfortunately.”

_ Unfortunately?  _ Asahi stared down at him helplessly. “I have no idea what that means.”

“Asahi-san, do you… well, I don’t know if this is a good idea, because we haven’t really, you know,  _ talked  _ about a lot of stuff, and I don’t really know what you’re… um, thinking about this whole thing, so—”

“ _Noya!”_ Asahi all but shouted.

“Doyouwanttocomeinsideforabit?” 

Asahi immediately stopped walking. Nishinoya paused alongside him, fidgeting like mad. “Do I—?” Asahi repeated.

“You don’t have to! It’s, it’s a lot, and really soon, I get that! You can go home, it’s fine, I’ll see you tomo—”

“Yes.” Asahi clenched his jaw. He nodded firmly. “Yeah, I’m coming in.”

Nishinoya looked up at him, mouth open slightly. “You are? I mean, yes! You are!” He faced forward quickly and picked up the pace again. “Great!”

They climbed the stairs to Nishinoya’s apartment in awkward silence. Asahi’s brain kept up a nonstop patter of sheer panic. 

_ Holy shit I’m going to Noya’s apartment. I’ve  _ been _ to Noya’s apartment. A lot. Why is this so weird all of a sudden?! Oh, right, you’ve only made out with him twice completely out in the open, and now you’re going somewhere very private and ohmigod,  _ please  _ try to be a gentleman. Just… just pay attention. To everything. To all of it. Whatever happens, just try to— _

Nishinoya unlocked the door without a word and stepped aside to let Asahi walk in first. Asahi pulled off his scarf, sweating bullets, waiting for the  _ click!  _ that meant they were alone. Nishinoya looked up at him, chewing his lip nervously, leaning against the door.

Asahi felt enormous and slow and a little stupid. 

“Um.”

“So…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM THE COCKBLOCKER OF ALL COCKBLOCKERS.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I… would’ve let a lotta people kiss me if they’d asked!” Nishinoya yanked his wrists again, and this time Asahi let him go, stunned.
> 
> Wait.
> 
> What?
> 
> Asahi blew out a breath and hoped it sounded like a laugh. “Oh, I forgot about Kiyoko.” I did too. Damn. Asahi was so good at misreading things, he’d medal if it were an Olympic sport.
> 
> He set both feet on the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees. And if Kiyoko were here right now instead of me...? Maybe it didn’t matter who was on the couch tonight.
> 
> The thought made Asahi feel a little sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beautiful beautiful art by [@just-emerald](http://just-emerald.tumblr.com/post/139189751356/imho-read-and-yet-here-you-are-by-codango-bcuz)!

Asahi watched Nishinoya grind his toe into the worn carpet and fidget with his shirt. Strange to see the inventor of Rolling Thunder!™ unable to look him in the eye. Strange. And worth investigating. 

Asahi crossed his arms in what he hoped was a nonchalant move. It was something to cover up how he was shaking anyway. “Now what?” he challenged.

Nishinoya’s eyes went wide as he stared at the floor. “N — now what?” he repeated, his voice strangled.

“You invited me up here,” Asahi said, and he hoped he sounded smooth and in control. He was pretty sure if he spoke much louder, his voice would crack. 

Nishinoya looked like he was thinking strongly about panicking. He wrapped both his hands around the back of his neck and finally looked up at Asahi. And then all the way down to Asahi’s shoes. And back up to his folded arms. Nishinoya bit his tongue. 

Weird.

Well, if Nishinoya wasn’t going to say anything, there  _ was  _ something niggling at the back of Asahi’s mind. 

He toed off his boots and walked over to the hand-me-down couch. Nishinoya had the corner of his jacket collar in his teeth as he watched Asahi sit down. His glasses were falling down his nose a little.

Asahi fell back into his usual corner of the lumpy cushions, one ankle crossed over a knee, hugging the couch’s one sad throw pillow. 

“Noya.”

“‘m?” Nishinoya didn’t take his collar out of his mouth. Just stood in the doorway, staring. It was disconcerting.

“What did you mean when you said you would’ve let me kiss you two years ago?” Asahi was  _ very  _ proud of himself for not stammering even a little bit.

Nishinoya covered his mouth with his jacket. “I didn’t say that,” he mumbled.

Asahi frowned. “No, I’m pretty sure you did. In the coffee shop before dinner, remember?” Okay, it had left his mind for a minute on their date (their  _ date!_), but Asahi was pretty sure he was never actually going to forget that bit of information. 

Nishinoya flopped onto the couch. “Why are you asking about  _ that_?” he whined. He peeked over his glasses. “We could just skip straight to the part where I let you kiss me _ now_.” 

Nishinoya’s face was pretty damn red, but Asahi bet his own surpassed it. “N- _ Noya!_” 

Nishinoya laughed, and it was loud and familiar. “I don’t know. You were a really cool third-year, and I —” He stopped abruptly and curled up on the opposite end of the couch. “I was just so happy you came back to the team. You know? And then you started doing all this cool shit. Like, your jump serve,  _ wow!_” He rocked forward onto his knees, eyes bright. “We should totally do some serve/receive practice some night! Come after regular practice sometime, I’ll tell the captain I’ll put the net away myself.” 

Asahi grinned. “So that means  _ I’m  _ putting the net away.”

“Hey! The posts are really damn heavy, okay?”

“All that special weight training with the team, and you still can’t carry one by yourself?” 

Nishinoya grabbed the pillow Asahi had been hugging and tried to beat him over the head with it. “Not everyone has arms made of tree trunks, you know.”

Asahi caught his wrist, so Nishinoya tried to switch hands with the pillow, but Asahi trapped that one easily too. “Bad idea to make fun of people with tree trunk arms,” he tsked. “And you changed the subject. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

The tips of Nishinoya’s ears went pink. “Yeah, well,” he mumbled. “Not like you notice a lot of things.” He tugged at his wrists experimentally. 

Asahi tightened his fingers. “Like how you had a crush on me in high school, apparently?”  _ I can’t believe I’m asking this, I can’t believe I’m—  _

“I — never said I had a  _ crush  _ on you!” Nishinoya spluttered. 

“You said you would’ve let me kiss you.” Asahi was certain about this.

“I… would’ve let a lotta people kiss me if they’d asked!” Nishinoya yanked his wrists again, and this time Asahi let him go, stunned. 

_ Wait. _

_ What? _

Asahi blew out a breath and hoped it sounded like a laugh. “Oh, I forgot about Kiyoko.”  _ I did too.  _ Damn. Asahi was so good at misreading things, he’d medal if it were an Olympic sport. 

He set both feet on the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees.  _ And if Kiyoko were here right now instead of me...?  _ Maybe it didn’t matter who was on the couch tonight.

The thought made Asahi feel a little sick.

“Um.” Nishinoya shifted on his knees on the couch. “I think that… okay, maybe that was the wrong —”

“No, I get it.” Asahi thought about leaving, but he made himself stay seated. Leaving was easy, and he was trying to grow up, thank you very much. “Everyone’s horny in high school.”

“... even you?”

Asahi’s head snapped up, mouth gaping at the quiet question. 

Nishinoya sat on his heels and rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, you just never — you never seemed, you know, into anyone, so...”

_ Because it’s difficult to think about getting it on with someone when you find everyone vaguely terrifying.  _ “Guess I had to grow into that.”

Nishinoya gave the impression of a tiny German Shepherd sitting at attention. “So you’re okay with — um. You’re into… people now? Since you got to college or something?”

Asahi wiped a hand over his face.  _ Am I into people now. What kind of fucking question…  _ “People are fine, Noya.” It was random makeouts that he didn’t really like, but after two, no,  _ three  _ kisses, it seemed a little late to make the point.

Nishinoya braced a hand on the back of the couch, walked forward on his knees. “Then?” His voice was quiet, eyebrows raised.

Asahi watched him. So if Noya just liked making out… and Asahi was here… fuck it all, he’d  _ really  _ liked kissing Nishinoya. 

Asahi stayed still, letting Nishinoya test the edges of his personal space. He’d sort of realized, these last two years in college, that people liked something about his body. Maybe Noya did too?  _ That  _ brought on a weird set of emotions. What if he was just another body that Noya liked?

Nishinoya touched his shoulder tentatively.

But  _ fffuuuuuuuuck  _ if Noya liked his body…

Asahi tilted his head barely to one side, and Nishinoya sucked in a soft breath near his exposed neck.

Maybe it wouldn’t matter if this wasn’t anything else?

Nishinoya’s breath hit his neck first, and then soft lips mouthed against skin. Asahi’s mouth fell open, and he was pretty proud of himself for not making any noise. It was surprisingly easy to stay still, as Nishinoya walked his hands onto Asahi’s knees, dotting kisses up his neck, under his jaw. It was only when Noya sucked at Asahi’s pulse that he might have released the quietest sigh.

“Asahi-san…” Nishinoya pushed at his shoulders lightly, and Asahi leaned back into the couch cushions. Noya followed, crawling to sit on his lower abs. He brushed Asahi’s hair back, trying to tuck it into his hairband, and Asahi’s eyes drifted shut at the tender touch. 

Nishinoya made a soft noise of discovery and took the headband off entirely, combing his fingers through Asahi’s hair. Asahi let his head fall back against the arm of the couch because  _ damn  _ that was nice. No one had ever played with his hair before.

Fingernails ran along his scalp, parting his shoulder-length hair in rows. Asahi’s skin tingled after every pass. It took him a second before he realized that the drawn-out moan was coming from his own mouth.

Asahi blinked, a little embarrassed.

Nishinoya was watching him, eyes fascinated. “I really,  _ really  _ wish I had known you liked that in high school.”

Asahi choked and tried to sit up. Nishinoya remained firmly in his lap and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Asahi’s neck, one hand sliding up his neck into his hair. “I bet I could have put you to sleep doing that,” Nishinoya whispered.

“Not —” Asahi cleared his throat. “— not for a while.”  _ Oh my god, shut up, please, shut up. _

Nishinoya raised an eyebrow, and the hand in Asahi’s hair tightened and pulled. 

Asahi’s sigh was only a little less embarrassing this time because he was  _ trying,  _ dammit. 

“Oh my god.” Nishinoya buried his face in the crook of Asahi’s neck. “You are so hot it’s unfair.”

_ Unfair?  _ Dimly, Asahi registered that he hadn’t been touching Noya really at all. Maybe that was a little unfair. Makeouts went both ways. Asahi scooched back until he was sitting propped up against the arm of the couch. He ran his hands underneath that denim jacket and up Nishinoya’s ribs.

Nishinoya’s back  _ arched, _ Asahi could feel it, and Nishinoya clung tightly to his neck. He hummed low and rough in Asahi’s ear, which was almost as good as fingernails against his scalp. 

The temples of Nishinoya’s glasses scraped against the side of Asahi’s head. He reached for them. “We’re taking these off,” he whispered, leaning over to set them on the coffee table. Asahi studied Nishinoya’s face for a moment. He ran a thumb over the bruising high on his cheekbone. “Black eye is fading.”

“Y-yeah.” Nishinoya chewed his lip, hands on Asahi’s chest.

Asahi pulled at Nishinoya’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Told you to stop that.” With a firm hand between Nishinoya’s shoulderblades, Asahi pulled him in for a kiss.

A hand under Noya’s chin, fingers spread against Noya’s back, Asahi deepened the kiss immediately. Nishinoya just fit so nicely in his arms, in his lap, it really seemed weird they hadn’t tried this before. Stupid, honestly — 

Nishinoya raked his fingernails up the back of Asahi’s neck, and Asahi shuddered against his mouth. “D- _ damn._” 

Nishinoya laughed, and Asahi felt the breath against his lips. “Love that you love that.”

“Um… me too?” What would Noya like that much? Asahi couldn’t just  _ ask_. Right? “Noya?” 

“Mm?” Nishinoya tried a new angle for a kiss. 

“I, uh. What… what do you… um.” Asahi floundered.

“What do I…?” Nishinoya prompted, running a hand slowly down Asahi’s sternum. Which  _ fuck  _ that was nice too. 

“What do you… um. Want?” 

Nishinoya paused, then pulled back a little to look at him. “What do I want with, like, what we’re doing now? Or…” He glanced away and then back. “Like with, uh, you and me?”

Asahi cocked his head, not really sure about the different options. “Right now?” he guessed. “I just…” He hid his face in Nishinoya’s shoulder, beyond embarrassed. “The hair thing is really nice. So what do you like?”

Nishinoya sucked in a breath. “How are you  _ so cute_.” 

_ Augh.  _ Asahi hated being called cute. He was huge, and huge people weren’t cute, and it just felt like he was being made fun of. He lifted his head just enough to give Nishinoya’s ear a warning bite. “Not cute.” He was glad his red face was still kind of hidden.

Nishinoya  _ squealed. _

He tried to squirm away, but  _ wow  _ Asahi wanted to hear that noise again. He leaned forward, tilting Nishinoya off balance, pressing his back flat against the couch. Asahi tugged at his ear again with his teeth, and Nishinoya jerked and shoved his hands hard against Asahi’s chest. 

Asahi grabbed both wrists in one hand and kept them sandwiched between their bodies, bending over to test his teeth against Nishinoya’s neck. Just underneath his ear, then low and back toward his shoulders, and then high underneath his chin… anywhere to make him shriek. 

“ _Augh!”_ Nishinoya  _ wriggled  _ underneath him, laughing, squealing, panting. “Asahi-san, that’s CHEATING! Get… get  _ off!_” 

Instantly, Asahi sat back on his heels, startled. He was breathing hard, he noticed, breath stirring his own hair as it hung in his face. 

Nishinoya’s hands fell to his own chest, and he lay there gasping, face nearly purple. A weak giggle escaped him, and Asahi’s shoulders slumped in relief. 

“S-sorry.” Asahi swallowed. “Payback, I guess.” He grinned apologetically. “Won’t do it again.”

“Payback?” Nishinoya propped himself up on his elbows. “For… for calling you  _ cute?” _

Asahi swept his hair out of his face, embarrassed all over again, and said nothing.

“So. That’s what I can expect if I say you’re cute.”

Asahi narrowed his eyes. 

Nishinoya raised himself to almost a sitting position. “Asahi-san.”

“Noya,  _ no._” 

“You’re cute.”

“ _Noya, now you’re the one cheating, that’s not fair._ ”

“Cute! Asahi-san is sooooooo kkkkyyyyyuuuuute!” Nishinoya threw himself dramatically back onto the couch cushions, an arm over his forehead. “Just the most adorable little twee muffin, gonna take him home, and —”

Asahi slapped his hand over Nishinoya’s mouth and leaned over him. “Shhh! You idiot, someone’s gonna fuckin’ hear you,” he hissed. He fought back a grin, even though he might actually go up in flames from embarrassment.

“MMmmm! Mm hhmm _ mmm_!” Nishinoya tried to shout from behind Asahi’s hand. 

“Noya, I’m warning you, if you don’t shut up…” Asahi leaned forward, putting a little bit more of his weight behind his hand.

Something new flashed behind Nishinoya’s eyes. He grabbed Asahi’s hand and pulled it off his mouth. “I never shut up,” he said. His voice was low and held a pretty good dare. “What the fuck are you gonna do about it?”

Asahi knew it when Nishinoya challenged him. Just because there wasn’t a volleyball anywhere around right now didn’t mean it was any less obvious. He put his hand back over Nishinoya’s mouth. Leaned over him and put his lips right on Nishinoya’s ear. Asahi felt Nishinoya’s sharp gasp against his hand. 

“Do you want to find out?”

Asahi felt a little silly whispering that. If Nishinoya laughed at him…

Nishinoya’s eyes were blown wide, staring up at him above Asahi’s hand. His breath came out in little puffs through his nose. Asahi lifted his hand a little to let him breathe properly.

“Y-yeah.”

Asahi almost didn’t hear it. But when he registered what the boy underneath him had said… he lowered his head, and Nishinoya arched his neck.

This was nice, Asahi reflected, holding Nishinoya’s hands over his head, bracing himself on an elbow. It was warm in the angle between Nishinoya’s neck and his shoulder. Asahi breathed it in, pulling at salty skin with his lips. He could be talked into doing this for awhile, if that’s what Nishinoya wanted, random makeout be damned.

Nishinoya sighed loudly and angled his head to encourage Asahi’s lips to move elsewhere. He didn’t really seem to mind that he didn’t have the use of his hands, though Asahi wondered briefly if it was a bad position for a libero’s shoulders to be in for long. But then he felt Nishinoya’s tongue flick lightly at the seam of his lips, and Asahi forgot what a volleyball was.

He opened his mouth a bit more, letting Noya’s bottom lip slide past his. Asahi ran his free hand underneath the jacket again, testing the fabric of the ancient T-shirt he wore underneath. Asahi could feel everything underneath it, every rib, every incredible muscle.

Nishinoya’s eyes opened slightly, gold shimmering in the low light of evening throughout the apartment. “Asahi-san,” he whispered, feathering his lips over Asahi’s. “I’ve wa—”

_ Bang! Bang!  _

“Noyaaaaaaaaaa! Noya, man, you home?”

Asahi and Nishinoya stared at each other.

_ Bang! Bang! BANG! _

“Oi! If you’re at home, man, would greatly appreciate some tea and sympathy. Your boy’s been through the trenches.”

Nishinoya craned his neck to stare upside down at the apartment door. Asahi followed his gaze, mouth open.

“Shit.” Tanaka’s voice was muffled now that he wasn’t shouting for the entire floor to hear. “Why’s no one answering their phones?”

Nishinoya looked up at Asahi. “Should I, uh — you think?” he whispered.

_ No. Fuck, no, I want to find out what you feel like underneath that T-shirt.  _ “Yeah. He sounded upset.”

Nishinoya blew out a breath and looked at the ceiling. “Lemme up.”

Asahi blushed and let go of Nishinoya’s wrists. Nishinoya rolled off the couch, wincing a little, and headed for the door. 

“Wait!” Asahi grabbed Nishinoya’s glasses and hurried over to him. “Hang on.” Nishinoya adjusted his glasses while Asahi folded down the collar of his jacket and straightened his T-shirt. “What about me?” he whispered.

“Your hairband!” Nishinoya hissed. 

“Shit! What’d you do with it?”

“I dunno, check in between the cushions?”

“ _Augh_ , just go get Tanaka, I’ll… I’ll figure it out.”

Nishinoya dashed out the front door while Asahi surveyed the apartment.

Lights. Gotta turn on some lights. Two dudes just chilling after school, they’d probably have on a lamp or two. And — Asahi grabbed the remote. Probably some TV. Sci-fi channel, always safe. God, what movie was  _ that?  _ The couch was… insane. Asahi smoothed cushions and fluffed the one throw pillow that had landed on the floor. Oh, but hey, there was his hairband.

Asahi was just twisting his hair back into the band, seated somewhat nonchalantly on the floor in front of the TV, when Nishinoya poked his head back in. “Aaand, yeah, Asahi-san and me were just, you know—” He glanced at the horrible CGI on the TV. “—making fun of this movie! So, uh, yeah, it was a little loud, sorry we didn’t hear you right away!”

Tanaka shuffled in behind him, and Asahi instantly forgot about getting caught making out with Nishinoya.

Tanaka’s shoulders, normally thrown back and reeking of something bordering on arrogance, were slumped. Asahi could have been watching a show about flower arranging, and Tanaka wouldn’t have noticed. He slipped off his workboots, head low, and seated himself at the coffee table with a heavy sigh.

Nishinoya glanced at Asahi, who shrugged.

“I, uh, don’t have any beer, man, but — you want some water or something? Or tea, I got tea?”

“Tea, yeah.” Tanaka rested his cheek on the table. “Thanks, man.”

Asahi studied Tanaka as Nishinoya clattered around in the kitchen. “So…”

Tanaka looked up at him. “Aw, c’mon, it’s obvious, right? Told you I was gonna ask Shizuku out.”

_ Oh.  _ Asahi grimaced. Those texts were just a couple hours old. How could he have forgotten? Granted, Nishinoya was a pretty capable distraction. 

“She, uh, said no, huh?”

Another heavy sigh. “Not… exactly. Dude. Did you know she was into Noya?”

Asahi blinked. “Well…”

_ Shit. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riri pouted and hugged Shizuku close to her. “Shizuku’s been a mere shell of herself since the weekend, and it’s all this guy’s fault.”
> 
> “R-Riri!” Shizuku looked like she wanted to fall through the floor. Asahi kind of didn’t blame her.
> 
> “Just look at him.” Riri stage whispered in her ear. “The homewrecker.”
> 
> Asahi’s mouth fell open. Shizuku buried her face in her hand.

Asahi settled into his usual chair in the athletic department’s small eating area. He tried to stay out of the regular cafeteria after a workout, and the vending machines in here weren’t bad anyway.

Today was Cup Ramen Day. He let himself have one a week, and it would have been a horrible lie to say that Asahi was not excited about his over-salted cup of simple carbs.

“Ah geez, you still eat that shit?”

Asahi glanced up guiltily. Hiyori stood there, smirking at him in her volleyball jacket and sweats. “Well,” he managed, “they shouldn’t stock them in the athletic department if they’re really that bad for you.”

Hiyori guffawed and flopped down into a chair across from him. “If I caught any of my girls eating one of those, I’d make them run extra laps.”

“Good thing I’m not one of your girls then, isn’t it.” He slurped up several noodles noisily. Never mind his red ears.

Hiyori pursed her lips and eyed him. “Yeah. About that.”

Asahi paused mid-slurp and looked up at her.

“Sounds like most of the girls on my team can move on with their lives. Finally.” Hiyori leaned her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand.

Asahi’s eyes widened. “That’s… good?”

“Yes, Azumane-san, that is what we call good news.” Hiyori took a pull from her water bottle. “I am relieved to hear that Noya has laid claim to you properly. Can I get my marker back by the way?”

Asahi latched onto the one bit that didn’t threaten to send him into cardiac arrest. “Y-your marker?” he choked.

“Mm, I threw it at you a couple days ago. Maybe last week? Don’t remember.” Hiyori sighed. “It was my favorite. I should really learn to not be so dramatic.”

Asahi swallowed hard. “Hiyori-san? What… what?” he asked helplessly.

She rolled her eyes. “Heard you and Nishinoya are seeing each other. Congrats, by the way.”

“You heard that.” Asahi sat back in his chair, stunned.  _ Are we seeing each other? What does that even mean?  _ “From who?”

“Come on, you really think you’re hiding anything?” Hiyori gestured to Asahi’s neck.

He slapped a hand over his pulse point before he could stop himself. He’d forgotten that he had put his hair up to work out.

Hiyori snickered but then shot him a more serious look. “Also, the volleyball girls are tight. And Shizuku’s been a fucking mess.”

Asahi felt the blood drain from his face. “Oh.” His voice was small.

“Yeah, oh,” Hiyori repeated. “That is one girl who wears her heart on her sleeve  _ real _ hard. She came to practice on Monday pretty devastated that Noya-chan wasn’t exactly in a position to notice her. Crying about how she’d made an idiot of herself. It was sad.”

Asahi wanted to crawl under the table. “Oh my god.” He wiped a hand over his face and stared at Hiyori. “Is she okay?” 

When she didn’t immediately answer, Asahi leaned across the table. “Hiyori-san—”

“Will you relax? Paranoid giant.” Hiyori bopped his forehead with her water bottle. “Shizuku fell pretty hard for Noya, but she’s… she’ll be fine. Eventually.”

“Eventually?” Asahi felt a rock drop in his gut. “She just met him like a week ago. Not even!”

Hiyori shrugged. “Pure-hearted girl, that one. And by the way, you can stop shoving your shaved-head friend at her as a consolation prize. She doesn’t work like that. Riri totally does, thank god, but not Shizuku.”

Asahi frowned and rubbed his forehead. “Tanaka’s not a consolation prize,” he mumbled. “He’s really damn cool actually.”

“Shizuku didn’t say he wasn’t. She’s just not ready to jump on his bandwagon yet. Your boy needs to cool his jets.”

Asahi tried really hard not to let that get under his skin. He didn’t doubt that Shizuku was feeling bad, and he did feel shitty about that, but he’d  _ seen _ Tanaka last night. The guy had looked like he’d had his jets knocked right out of him. 

Asahi turned his attention back to his cup of cooling noodles. Kudos to Shizuku, he supposed, for being frank with Tanaka.

Asahi stabbed his noodles with his chopsticks. And where did that leave him and Noya? Shizuku thought they were together, now Hiyori did too, but damned if Asahi knew what was going on. Other than the fact that he would really be okay making out with Noya again. But who knew what Noya had in mind?

Hiyori lifted her chin from her hand. “Wow, that is one hell of a scary face you—”

“Hiyoriiii, how dare you fraternize with the enemy?”

Asahi looked up, startled, and Hiyori turned in her chair. Riri, with her waves of brunette hair and impressive rack, sashayed up to their table. She was dragging a furiously red-faced Shizuku with her.

Riri stopped next to Hiyori’s chair and cocked her hip. “Azumane-san, are you trying to break another girl’s heart?” But she grinned at him, her lashes lowered. “You’re barking up the wrong tree with Hiyori-san, you know.”

Hiyori swatted the other girl’s thigh. “Shut up.”

“I.. I wasn’t—!” Asahi gasped.

“My god, will you  _ relax_.” Hiyori rolled her eyes. “Riri’s just pretending she cares.” 

“Not true, captain.” Riri pouted and hugged Shizuku close to her. “Shizuku’s been a mere shell of herself since the weekend, and it’s all this guy’s fault.”

“R- _Riri!_ ” Shizuku looked like she wanted to fall through the floor. Asahi kind of didn’t blame her. 

“Just look at him.” Riri stage whispered in her ear. “The homewrecker.”

Asahi’s mouth fell open. Shizuku buried her face in her hand. 

“Though I suppose now I have my answer about why you didn’t want to sleep with me last weekend,” Riri went on. 

Asahi choked on his own tongue. Shizuku gasped.

“I don’t mind losing to Noya-chan, I guess.” Riri twisted a lock of hair around her finger. “He’s kind of sinful in his own way really.”

Asahi shot a look at Hiyori. Shizuku’s eyes were massive. 

“Must be, if he finally turned little Shizuku’s head.” Riri patted the blonde girl’s hair in a sisterly way. “You know, I made her go to that party last weekend. And what did she find? A gay libero.” She sighed dramatically. “Sorry, babe, you do have the worst luck.”

Shizuku extricated herself from Riri’s one-armed hug. “I-I don’t think I do.” She straightened, and Asahi could  _ see  _ her trying to get herself together. “I got to meet Azumane-san and Noya-san and… and Tanaka-san.” Her face was still bright red, but her voice had come down to its usual range.

“Tanaka-san?” Riri wrinkled her nose. “That guy with the shaved head you mentioned at dinner last night?” She narrowed her eyes at Asahi. “Is he gay too?”

“ _Riri!_ ” Shizuku shrieked.  _ “Shut up!” _

Asahi cleared his throat. “Uh, you know, Shizuku—”

“Well, if it isn’t Azumane. And his little harem.”

Hiyori, Riri, and Shizuku turned around, but Asahi could still see that bleached blonde head towering over the top of them. He scowled.

Kibikino smirked back at him, ignoring the girls. “Expanding your territory, Azumane?”

“What do you want, Kibikino.” Asahi tried to sound polite, but the memory of Tuesday night outside Shizuku’s apartment was still pretty fresh. 

“Your boyfriend not with you today?” The basketball player walked forward, too tall and too big, and the girls parted for him so as not to be shoved out of the way.

Asahi really hated guys that did shit like that. He got out of his chair. 

“You gettin’ up to speak to me?” Kibikino stopped at the other side of the table. “I’m honored.”

“Kibikino—” Hiyori began, but Kibikino waved a hand dismissively in her direction.

“Hang on, captain. The men are talking.” He winked at Shizuku over his shoulder. “Be with you in a sec.”

Red started to creep around the edges of Asahi’s vision. “I don’t think they are.”  _ Keep your voice even. There is no need to shout. _

“What?” Kibikino turned back to him. “You got something to say?”

“My _god_ , you are such a jerk,” Riri hissed, but she stayed back. Hiyori was standing just in front of Shizuku and Riri, mouth tight. Shizuku’s eyes were blazing, but she was pale and shaking a little. Asahi frowned. God, it would suck to live next to a guy like this. 

_ This needs to stop.   _

Asahi picked up his gym bag and slipped it over a shoulder. He walked around the table, brushed past Kibikino, and offered his arm to Shizuku without a word. She looked up at him, confused, but looped her arm through his immediately. 

He glanced at Riri. She was fast on her feet for a situation as tense as this. “ _Really_ ,” she fussed, flicking her hair over a shoulder. “Where’s mine, handsome?”

Asahi couldn’t smile yet, but he crooked his other arm for her. Riri’s hand slunk up his bicep like a python. She laid her other hand on his wrist. “Hiyori, babe.” Riri winked at her captain. “I dunno where we’re going, but you should come find out.” She glared at Kibikino. “You can stay right here.”

Asahi released a slow breath. Thank god, really, for Riri’s mouth. He started walking, and the girls fell into step next to him like models. 

He heard Hiyori snort behind them. “Later, Kibikino.” Her tennis shoes squeaked along the floor as she walked to catch up with them. 

They didn’t speak until they were outside. Asahi came to a halt just past the doors of the athletic department, and the four of them stood there, blinking in the bright afternoon sunlight. 

Asahi was starting to feel quite stupid. Perhaps he’d overreacted. Sweeping out with all the girls like that was such an utterly  _ jock  _ thing to do. Embarrassment, hot and heavy, started to creep up the back of his throat.

“Well!” Hiyori slapped him hard on the back, and he stumbled forward a step. “That was  _ exciting.  _ Riri.” She tugged the brunette away from Asahi. “We’re going to the library, remember? After practice, you and me, library.”

“You didn’t forget about that?” Riri whined.

“Your grades  _ suck_, girl. I am not losing my best wing spiker because she can’t keep up her scholarship.” 

Asahi watched the two girls bicker all the way down the sidewalk until they turned a corner and were out of sight. He glanced down at Shizuku, still on his arm.

She looked up at him. “Oh! Uh. Sorry,” she mumbled, dropping his arm immediately. She took a rather large step to the side.

“No, no!” Asahi said hurriedly. “I-I should be apologizing. Really. I didn’t have to rush you all out of the building like that.” He laughed, self-conscious. “Totally unnecessary.”

Shizuku hugged herself. “I don’t think it was. God knows  _ I _ didn’t know what to say.”

Asahi tugged at the strap of his bag. “Has he been worse since Tuesday?”

She pursed her lips. “Not really? He’s been ignoring me, actually. Not that I’m complaining.”

There was a lot Asahi wanted to say.  _ Sorry Kibikino’s a jerk. Do you think you should move in with Riri and Hiyori? Why don’t you like Tanaka? Why do you like Noya? Do I like Noya? The way Tanaka likes you, I mean? Do you think— _

“Wanna do some practice hits?”

Asahi looked at her, surprised.

Shizuku was studying her tennis shoes. “There’s a practice gym that should be open this hour. We could set up a net.”

Something tiny and warm burst in Asahi’s chest.  _ Practice hits? Spiking?  _ “I… I haven’t spiked a ball in—”

“Tana… Tanaka-san said you were the ace of his high-school team,” Shizuku said quickly.

“I.” Asahi knew he was blushing hard. He lifted his chin. “Yeah. Yeah, I was.”

She turned to face him, excitement in her eyes. “You know, um. I hardly  _ ever _ get to work with the first-string spikers on our team...”

* * *

 

Shizuku was a methodical setter. She was competent and predictable, nothing too flashy or fancy. She wasn’t Kageyama, tailoring sets with surgical precision to each individual attack. She wasn’t like Oikawa, honing each set to bring out the best in the spiker. It was like… it was like if  _ Daichi  _ had been a setter instead of a receiver. 

Asahi loved it. 

Shizuku had gaped at his first hit that really connected. She put her hands over her mouth and stared at him with eyes like dinner plates when his feet touched the court again. 

“Um,” he said. “It’s… it’s really easy with no blockers, yeah?”

Shizuku squealed and pulled the ball cart closer. She tossed him a new ball, grinning hugely. “Give me a super high pass this time!”

After three so-so hits, they had adjusted to each other just enough that the ball fit perfectly in his hand every time. Asahi swung with abandon, with killing intent, the tension from just a few minutes earlier melting into loose muscle and trained focus. 

The cart was nearly empty when he waved away the next ball she offered. They were both covered in sweat and breathing hard.

“Gotta take a break,” he gasped. “My arm’s gonna fall off.”

“Oh? Oh, if you’re sure,” Shizuku said, tossing the ball back into the cart. 

“Been a minute since I’ve done this.” He flashed her a grin. “You’re definitely in better condition than me.”

Shizuku sniffed. “I would  _ hope  _ so.” Her eyes widened. “Uh! I mean! I’m on a team, and I do this all the time, and you’re, um, not, so it would be really, really terrible if—!”

Asahi laughed and sank onto the court. He thought about just sitting there, but he found himself stretching out on his stomach instead. He let his arms relax by his sides, his cheek against the cool court, and he groaned.

“You, uh, okay there, Azumane-san?” Shizuku queried.

“Mm. Just gonna lie here and quietly die, if you don’t mind.” He heard her shoes squeak as she jogged over to the bench where they’d thrown their things. He decided it wasn’t worth the trouble of lifting his head.

“This yours?” His water bottle appeared in front of him. Shizuku sat down cross-legged on the court, drinking from her own. “You should probably make sure you eat really well tonight.”

_ Wonder if Noya’s free. We haven’t been to that one Thai place in a while.  _ Asahi coughed, surprised at his thoughts, and sat up to grab his water bottle.

“So.” Shizuku cleared her throat nervously. “Um. Sorry about… about all that stuff Riri said earlier.”

Asahi raised an eyebrow at her as he drank.

“I don’t think you — she said you — _augh_.” Shizuku shook out her ponytail and started to redo it. “I’m not mad at you  _ or  _ Noya-san. Of course. You’re both really awesome people, and I’m so glad I got to know you, and I’m s-sorry I… misread your… relationship at the beginning. I didn’t mean to mess anything up.”

Asahi gaped at her. “What… what do you think you misread?” 

Shizuku wrinkled her brow. “What? You’re dating. Aren’t you?”

Asahi coughed and knew his face was beet red. “N-Noya? And  _ me?_” 

Shizuku frowned. “Oh, come  _ on.  _ You’re not?”

“I…” Asahi sucked in a breath. “We haven’t t-talked about anything… anything like that. Um.” 

“Are you — are you kidding me?” Her voice went higher. “Then what the hell is  _ that?_” She pointed at his neck. 

For the second time today, Asahi slapped a hand on his neck. “Um!”

“He gives you  _ hickies,  _ and he looks at you like you’re… like you’re damn well  _ made out of sex_, and you don’t know if you’re dating?” Shizuku was shrieking. 

“I — _I am not made out of sex!_ ” Asahi whisper-shouted, rather stupidly. 

“ _I didn’t say you were!_ ” Shizuku closed her eyes and huffed out a breath. “You need to talk to that boy. Properly. Confess your love or give him an opportunity to tell you what is painfully obvious to the rest of this campus, please, for the love of god.”

Asahi stared at her, dumbfounded. 

“You do like him. Of course.” Shizuku did not pose it as a question.

Asahi gulped. “Don’t… don’t you?”

Shizuku’s cheeks went pink. “I—! I would have.” She looked at her water bottle as she tossed it idly between her hands.

“Why?”  _ That is way too personal, man, this is not about you.  _ “You met him at a party. You were both drunk.”  _ You looked so good together, and I was so,  _ so  _ jealous.  _

Shizuku smiled a little. “We talked about volleyball. He loves it. He really loves  _ it_, not just because it makes him look cool or he thinks he’s the hottest shit on the court. He loves volleyball. And he didn’t care that I wasn’t as good.” 

“Shizuku, you’re  _ really  _ good—”

She held up a hand. “I do fine, and if that means I can keep playing, I’m happy. But Noya-san is…” She sighed and leaned back on her hands. “He makes people feel good about themselves. That’s really nice to be around, you know?”

_ Yeah. Yeah, it really is.  _ Asahi sighed. “But you’re okay? With him? And… and everything?”

Shizuku let her head hang back between her shoulders and studied the gym ceiling. “I’m an idiot. But he can’t see anything but you.”

“That, uh, doesn’t answer the question,” Asahi pointed out softly. But  _ really? Oh my god, since when? And HOW? _

She smirked up at the ceiling. “Why couldn’t you be a jerk? Or why couldn’t Noya-san? This whole thing would be much easier on my heart.”

“You know what I think?” Asahi licked his lips, trying to ignore Hiyori’s warning from earlier. “I think that, uh, you should give Tanaka a chance.”

Shizuku froze.

“Because, um, just… just hear me out!”  _ You really should mind your own business, man, you fucked up matchmaking for her once already.  _ “He’s a really nice guy, and he’s just as encouraging as Noya is! Maybe… maybe a little bit louder, which is actually saying something now that I think about it, but he’ll never make you feel bad about yourself. Ever. And, you know, he likes volleyball too!”  _ Oh god, you are seriously the worst at this. _

Shizuku brought her head back down to stare at him, open-mouthed. 

“And. And he’s a really good cook,” Asahi finished helplessly. 

Shizuku blinked. A slow smile crept across her face, and she laughed. Loud and bright. “Good  _ lord_, Azumane-san! You are all each other’s biggest fan club.” She swatted his shoulder as she stood. “Help me take this net down.” 

“Oh.” He scrambled to his feet. “Are we done?”

“We’re done.” Shizuku tossed him a grin over her shoulder. “You’ve got a boy to ask out.”

Asahi swallowed hard. 

_ Yeah. Yes. I’m… I’m going to ask him out. Properly. On a real, honest-to-goodness  _ date _, and then I’m going to say…_

_ Shit. _

What _am I going to say?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES, Asahi, tell us, _what_ are you going to say??


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Asahi-san.”
> 
> Asahi turned, already in the kitchen doorway.
> 
> Nishinoya gripped his hands into fists on his knees, his mouth a tight line. “Could you, um. First. Could you… please sit down?”
> 
> Asahi couldn’t decide if butterflies took off in his gut or if a rock had fallen into it. He cleared his throat. “S-sure.”
> 
> “Just. On the couch please,” Nishinoya directed.
> 
> Asahi licked his lips and sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, hands folded in front of him. Calm down, calm down, dear god, for the love, calm down.

Asahi threw his gym bag on the floor in front of the couch. Took his phone out of his jacket and stared it.

_ Call him. Right now, just do it, the more you think about it, the worse this is gonna be.  _

He pulled up Nishinoya’s number. Stared at that shock of black and bleached hair and that same old cocky grin. Asahi zeroed in on Noya’s mouth. It had been on his neck just last ni— 

Asahi threw the phone onto the couch and stomped into the bathroom. Phone calls could wait. Time for a shower. No doubt he’d think of something genius to say while he was in there.

He’d make dinner, he decided as he shampooed his hair. He’d just have to get carrots and potatoes, and he could make a decent Thai curry. 

“Hey,” he practiced as he toweled off. “Hey, I have some veggies that are gonna go bad. You should come over and eat some curry, I made way too much.” 

_ And then — _Asahi walked over to his phone, towel around his hips. _ And then, maybe I’ll get some good beer. And then I’ll say, you know…  _

He tightened his grip on his phone.

_ You know… we… _

_ … _

_ I… _

“Aaaauuuugggh.” Asahi punched Nishinoya’s number and held his phone to his ear, glaring at his living room wall. He bit his lip as the phone rang. And rang. And fucking  _ rang_. 

_ Oh hell no, I am not leaving a message.  _ Asahi paced the living room floor, yanking at his wet hair.  _ I am so not prepared to leave a message. I’ll just hang —  _

“Asahi-san!”

“N-Noya!” Asahi fell onto the arm of the couch. “I… you picked up!”  _ Obviously, you moron, wow. _

“Yeah, well, I was kinda in class.” Nishinoya laughed quietly.

Asahi’s eyes narrowed. “You  _ were  _ in class?”

“Well, I’m not gonna take a call while I’m  _ in  _ class, that’s rude, Asahi-san, gosh.”

“You left class to answer your phone.”

“Mm. The prof looked sorta iffy about it, but I just whispered that it was my doctor and hurried out.”

Asahi wiped a hand over his face. “Your doctor. Noya, no one’s going to believe that.”

“Well, it’s kinda true,” Nishinoya protested. “You’re kind of a doctor, right?”

“I am in no way anything like a doctor! Sports med is a very —”

“Yeah, yeah, what’d you call me for?”

“... oh.”

“I mean, I’m gonna feel a little silly rushing out of class if this is just, like, to tell me about a cat video or something.”

“I would never call you about that.” Asahi felt a grin coming on.

“You totally sent me a Vine last week.”

“That’s right. I send you links like a decent person.”

“Asahi-saaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn.”

Asahi swallowed. “Right. Um.” He ran a hand through his hair, and it caught on the tangles. “You, ah, you want dinner tonight?”

Nishinoya was quiet for much longer than normal. That is to say, all of three seconds. “Well, yeah! What do you wanna do?”

Asahi released a breath. This was normal. They had dinner together all the time, he could make this totally normal. Until later. When it would be the most abnormal thing he’d ever — “I’m gonna make curry.”

“ _Oh_.” Nishinoya paused. “Dinner at your place then? Um. That sounds… really awesome! Uh, can I — should I bring anything?”

_ Not normal. This is totally not normal, he knows, he fucking  _ knows _._ Asahi closed his eyes and turned his face to the ceiling. “Um? You gonna want beer?”

“Yes. That is a yes. I will bring that.” Another pause. “Or. Um. Maybe… do you like wine?”

_ Oh my god.  _ “If it’s dry and red,” Asahi managed.

“Cool.” Nishinoya’s voice seemed more cautious than usual, but there was definitely a smile in there. “Cool, I’ll see you, um — what time?”

“Uh.” Asahi glanced at the time on his phone. “Seven?”

“Seven! Awesome! Perfect! So excited, can’t wait, better get back to class, see ya later!”

Asahi stared at his phone. He’d never actually pushed a huge rock over the side of a cliff, but he imagined it would sort of feel like this.

* * *

 

By the time Asahi was contemplating the potato bin at the local grocery, his hair was dry. 

_ Potatoes, carrots. I have rice. Forgot to check coconut milk, should probably get — wait, do I have toilet paper? _

He turned down an aisle and promptly smacked into a hard shoulder.

“Azumane!”

“Kuroo! Sorry, I was just, uh. Not paying attention at all.” Asahi grinned sheepishly.

Kuroo carried a case of beer under one arm and a bag of chips in the other. He smirked at Asahi’s basket. “Fresh veggies, huh? Aww. Noya’s super excited.”

Heat crawled up Asahi’s neck. “You, ah… he said…?”

Kuroo’s grin was obscene. “He texted the entire team. I think Oikawa talked him out of wearing a tie, so you’re welcome.”

“A  _ tie_.” Asahi glanced down at his jeans. They had a hole in one knee. 

“Hey,” Kuroo said seriously. “Don’t overthink it. You look fabulous.”

“I’m wearing a hoodie.”

“It’s clean, right?”

Asahi sighed. “What am I doing?”

“Making dinner for a guy who’s bonkers about you. So adorable. Look, you’ve inspired me.” Kuroo held up the chips and beer.

Asahi raised an eyebrow. “That is not your dinner.”

“Um?” Kuroo eyed the chips. “Well, I meant to save them for the weekend, but to be honest, they probably won’t last past lunch tomorrow.” 

Asahi smiled despite himself. “What’s so special about the weekend?”

“O _ho_.” Kuroo leaned forward in a conspiratorial fashion. “This middle blocker is hosting a promising young recruit for the team. You may be familiar — tall, blonde, glasses, hates the world?”

Asahi’s jaw dropped. “ _Tsukishima?_ You’re hosting Tsukishima. This weekend.”

“You know, I say ‘hates the world,’ but that’s really kind of unforgiving,” Kuroo mused. “More like, ‘thinks the world is stupid and tries to endure.’”

“You… you keep in touch?” Asahi choked. Tsukishima, staying with Kuroo. Over a weekend. On campus. He would be going to absolutely no parties this weekend, Asahi decided firmly.

“Nope!” Kuroo hefted the case of beer on his hip. “Coach asked for volunteers to host a recruit, I recognized the name, could not resist. So I’m stocking up on supplies.”

“Ah.” Asahi pursed his lips. “Um. You know, maybe throw in some strawberries or something? Some, uh, real food.”

“Ohhh.” Kuroo gave him a side eye. “Inside info from the old senpai, huh? Strawberries are this way, right?” He strode off down an aisle. “Best of luck tonight, Azumane! Condoms are on aisle four!”

Asahi told himself he would have no problem looking the cashier in the eye when it was his turn to pay, but that turned out to be a lie.

* * *

 

Asahi tasted the curry for the tenth time. It was fine, it was excellent, and he made himself not reach for any more spices. He’d ruin it if he got too nervous.

He’d already waffled about the music. He never had music on when Nishinoya came over before, but he’d read that background music can help smooth over awkward silences at parties. This wasn’t a party, but awkward silences were probably on the way, so?

It had only taken him twenty minutes to decide on a station. Which he then spent the next half hour turning on and off before finally throwing up his hands and leaving it on.

Asahi had kept his torn jeans, but he’d traded his hoodie for a button-down plaid. It seemed safe.

He gripped the counter and stared into the simmering soup pot.  _ I am not going to survive this. I am going to spontaneously com —  _

An enthusiastic knock on the door sent a spasm through his entire body.

“Asahi-saaaaaaaan!”

Asahi gasped, ran both hands through his hair — he’d left it down — and hurried to the door.

Nishinoya was not wearing a tie. Thank heaven. It was probably hell’s fault that he was wearing a band T-shirt under a tight-fitting blazer and skinny black canvas pants. 

It was too late to duck into his room to change his torn jeans, wasn’t it?

Nishinoya held up a bottle of wine like a trophy. “One of the guys suggested this! Said it was awesome, so I figured we should try it.” He walked into Asahi’s apartment and toed off his boots, as natural as anything.

Asahi grasped at the conversation piece. “Let me guess — Oikawa?”

“ _No._ ” Nishinoya’s eyes lit up. “It was Aone-san. You want him to talk? Talk about food, like, good food. He will wax rhapsodic about umami-this and bechamel-that and sous-vide-whatever.”

“Rhapsodic?” Asahi couldn’t even picture the silent giant saying much beyond a very formal hello. 

“Two sentences at least, I kid you not.” Nishinoya shoved the bottle into Asahi’s hands and strode into the kitchen. “Oh maaaaaan, that smells so good.”

“Couple more seconds on the rice,” Asahi promised. He followed, set the wine on a counter, and began scrounging for a corkscrew. He knew he had one, he just hadn’t bothered with wine in — 

Two thin arms wrapped around his stomach. Asahi’s hands froze inside a kitchen drawer as he felt Nishinoya’s head rest softly on his back. 

There was a moment of waiting. A moment where Asahi knew that neither of them knew what would happen next. His blood was nearly roaring in his ears.

Nishinoya’s fingers twitched, and his arms loosened. Asahi laid a hand over them before they could slip away. 

Nishinoya settled his weight into Asahi’s back with a sigh. “Missed you,” he said, his voice quiet.

Asahi had to laugh. “You just saw me yesterday.” He turned around in Nishinoya’s arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Like for hours.” He laced his fingers behind Nishinoya’s back and  _ wow, this feels so easy. _

Nishinoya gripped the front of Asahi’s plaid shirt. He didn’t look him in the eye, which was a little unusual. “I know,” he mumbled.

_ This… is gonna be okay.  _ Asahi still didn’t know what Nishinoya was thinking. Not one hundred percent. But he seemed to be okay like  _ this,  _ so.

_ What if all he wants is this? No, shut up, you can’t think like that, you have to ask first. Asking sucks! Oh my god, Asahi, will you just —  _

Nishinoya pulled away, and Asahi let his arms drop, surprised. “So!” Nishinoya said brightly. “Let’s eat, yeah? And I want a glass of that, like, now.”

Asahi blinked. He’d thought — well, he’d been just a second away from — “Yeah. Yeah, grab some bowls, will you?”

A bit more scrounging found the corkscrew, and Asahi turned to grab the wine bottle. And stopped to stare.

Nishinoya was on tiptoe trying to reach the shelf where Asahi stacked his paltry collection of dinnerware. With a frustrated growl, Nishinoya lowered to his flat feet, yanked off his tight jacket, and reached again. His T-shirt hiked up one side to show off a hard back. His arms were thin but  _ damn  _ those triceps though. 

Asahi bit his lip to keep from laughing as Nishinoya brought the bowls down with a satisfied smirk. He must have made some sound because Nishinoya’s head snapped up. 

“Hey! You could’ve helped instead of laughing at me, you know! Frickin’ giant,” Nishinoya groused. 

“I don’t want you to keep me around just because I’m tall,” Asahi teased. He walked out to the main room with the wine and some glasses before his blush gave him away.

Nishinoya followed quietly. He set down the bowls and a couple spoons and sat back on his heels at the low table. He took a careful sip of the wine Asahi poured for them. 

The sudden silence was heavy and more than a little unnerving. Asahi rubbed his hands on his jeans. “I’ll just go bring the pot in —”

“Asahi-san.”

Asahi turned, already in the kitchen doorway.

Nishinoya gripped his hands into fists on his knees, his mouth a tight line. “Could you, um. First. Could you… please sit down?”

Asahi couldn’t decide if butterflies took off in his gut or if a rock had fallen into it. He cleared his throat. “S-sure.”

“Just. On the couch please,” Nishinoya directed.

Asahi licked his lips and sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, hands folded in front of him.  _ Calm down, calm down, dear god, for the love, calm down. _

Nishinoya walked forward on his knees, just enough to close the distance a little. He looked pale, his eyes huge, his shoulders tense. He sat back on his heels again, in that same strangely formal pose.

“Asahi-san, I — I don’t want to mess up whatever, whatever you’ve got in mind for, um, this.” He gestured at the table, all set for dinner. “But.” Nishinoya released a nervous laugh. “If I don’t say this, I’m gonna explode. Or Tanaka’s gonna bust through the door or something.”

Asahi wiped his hands together and tried to will away the clammy feeling. 

“I really like you.” Nishinoya held his gaze and swallowed hard. “Like, a  _ lot_, okay? And I have for a really, _ really  _ goddamn long time, and I wasn’t gonna say anything, I was gonna try real hard to just let you… do your thing, whatever it was, except damned if  _ I  _ knew what your thing was, you never talked about liking  _ anyone_, so I just… _ gah_, I was just really happy that you seemed to even like hanging out with me, but then I got a scholarship here, and I was still gonna try to be happy with that, but then I —” He broke off and blew out a breath. “I got here, and you were just so… much more… well, it was _ hard_, okay? But I was still gonna try to be like we were before, and then you.” Nishinoya smiled, small and happy and beautiful. “You, uh, k-kissed me. And I thought. Um. Maybe I should. Tell you. Finally.” His eyes flicked to the floor, then back up at Asahi, then back to the floor. Where they stayed. 

Asahi drew in a deep breath. And pulled Nishinoya into his arms, lying back with him on the couch in one smooth motion. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on breathing.

Nishinoya let loose a surprised squeak. 

Asahi tightened his hold around Nishinoya’s shoulders and buried his nose in his hair. He smelled like some kind of light cologne. Leafy and clean.  _ Damn. Dammit, he is so much cooler than me.  _ Asahi felt heat sting his eyes, and he willed himself not to cry. He didn’t think it was going to work.

“Asahi… san?”

“I never had a thing.” Asahi hated that his voice wobbled. “I never… w-wanted anyone, not like… well.” He cupped one of Nishinoya’s shoulders, mildly amazed at how it disappeared under his whole hand. “I love being with you.” He knew that. That was easy. “I want to be with you.” That was easy too. “Please.” 

_ God, that sounds so pathetic after Noya’s —  _

Nishinoya wriggled in his arms until Asahi drew back his hands in surprise. Nishinoya straddled him, grabbed his shirt collar, and knocked their foreheads together a little too forcefully. Asahi closed one eye to focus on him. Nishinoya’s grin was huge.

“Please is the magic word,” Nishinoya said, his voice low. “Azumane Asahi, I regret to inform you that you are now _ mine_.” 

Asahi sucked in a breath. “O-okay,” he whispered.

Nishinoya exhaled deeply and placed both hands on the sides of Asahi’s face. “ _Yes_ ,” and he covered Asahi’s mouth with his. 

Asahi tried to swallow the last of his tears — some had definitely leaked out, dammit — and he let his hands settle back on Nishinoya’s hips. He loved just being with Nishinoya, but fuck, he loved this too. Nishinoya’s lips between his, his breath in Asahi’s mouth. The barely-there taste of red wine was so much better than the ramen from last night’s kisses. Or the beer the night before. 

Asahi angled his head to one side for a better taste and ran his hand over Nishinoya’s T-shirt, feeling strong back muscles and flexible spine. Nishinoya hummed into his mouth and brought his knees tight into Asahi’s ribs. 

Keeping one hand on his back — where did Nishinoya find such soft T-shirts? — Asahi tilted Nishinoya’s chin up and mouthed at his neck. He smelled amazing. 

Nishinoya shivered and gripped Asahi’s shirt in his fists. “Asahi,” he sighed, and he spread his legs a little, melting into Asahi’s core. 

Asahi groaned against Nishinoya’s neck, and he pressed his hand into the small of Noya’s back. Not hard, just… if Nishinoya wanted to be closer, then…

Nishinoya gasped. " _Fffffuck_ ,” and he grabbed Asahi’s hair, pulling him up for a hard kiss. 

Asahi didn’t think he’d be able to open his eyes for a week. He was turning into a puddle, a puddle of honey, a puddle of honey  _ on fire_. His hand swept lower, fingers finding the hem of that soft shirt. _ Wow, _ Nishinoya’s skin was… well, what skin would normally feel like, warm and smooth and all the rest, but it was Nishinoya’s and it was incredible. Asahi’s fingers began to trace up that tempting lower spine.

“ _Whoa_ , okay, hah.” Nishinoya broke off the kiss and reached back for Asahi’s hand. 

Asahi felt panic burn away the fluffy pink cloud he was floating on. “What? Is that… was that not… good?”

“Hang on.” Nishinoya rested his forehead on Asahi’s again. “Sorry, I —” He laughed in the middle of a few hard breaths. “Asahi, I. We should probably… um.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t wanna push too hard too fast, you know? And uh, if we’re gonna. Stop. We should probably, uh. It’s gonna get a little…” He trailed off.

Part of Asahi — a very particular part — screamed at him that everything wanted to keep going, thank you very much. Nishinoya’s tight pants, his soft T-shirt, his gold eyes looking at Asahi like  _ that_. Fuck no, Asahi didn’t want to stop. 

Another part — a very large part, hidden way way deep inside — squirmed and said, yes please, we are all getting overwhelmed and this is a lot to get used to all at once, so, um, if you don’t mind, yeah.

Asahi groaned and put both hands gently on either side of Nishinoya’s face. He kissed him, once more, softly. “Noya is too smart, and I hate it.” But he let his hands drop to his chest and watched Nishinoya sit back on his heels.

Nishinoya cocked his head and looked down at him. A little smile played at his mouth. “ _God_ , you are so — wait.” Nishinoya sat up straight and sniffed the air. “Do you smell burning?” 

“... _Oh, SHIT!_ ”

They were able to salvage some of the curry. Enough for dinner anyway. But the pot was, frankly, ruined. Nishinoya talked Asahi into throwing it out entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S NOT A COCKBLOCK IF THEY END IT THEMSELVES.
> 
> Aaaaaand we have [beautiful fanart](http://codango.tumblr.com/post/139322621379/just-emerald-imho-read-and-yet-here-you-are-by) by [@just-emerald](http://just-emerald.tumblr.com/post/139189751356/imho-read-and-yet-here-you-are-by-codango-bcuz)! _swoons_


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Okay, here’s… here’s the thing.” Nishinoya ran a hand through his hair. The bleached bits stood up a little higher than the rest. “We kinda need to get out of my apartment.”
> 
> Asahi glanced around the tiny living room. He’d come over after Nishinoya’s last practice, they’d had a late pizza, and Asahi was currently trying to figure out how to segue naturally into a longer makeout than yesterday. He’d never given much thought to the activity before a couple days ago. Now it was all he really wanted to do.
> 
> “We do?” Asahi tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovely people! Couple notes about this chapter:  
> \- This chapter's more than twice as long as the usual ones. So yay!  
> \- This chapter has some misogynistic language. Boo.  
> \- But it's over fast. Yay!  
> \- This chapter ends in smut. Yay!/Boo depending on your preference.
> 
> EDIT: I've updated Tsukki's insult. Originally, I used the word "cretins." However, I recently ran across information suggesting that this use was ableist -- I'd never heard of [cretinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretinism) before, and after doing my own research, I've decided I don't want Tsukki using this word to insult someone. I'll be changing this in all of this AU's POVS.

Asahi frowned. Or he tried to. “That is a horrible idea. I’m not going.”

Nishinoya frowned back at him and flopped dramatically into his lap. Asahi thought that was a little unfair. “It will be  _ amazing_,” he insisted. “Can you imagine?” 

“Imagine Tsukishima and Kuroo at a party? Together?” Asahi was pleased his voice didn’t betray the butterflies in his stomach. Having a sexy libero in his lap wasn’t something he was used to yet. To be fair, it had only been part of his life for like a day. “It sounds like a disaster.”

Nishinoya pouted, which was something  _ else  _ that was unfair. “You said ‘it sounds like an entertaining Friday night’ wrong.”

Asahi closed his eyes and groaned. “Tsukishima will find the most insecure, testosterone-driven male there and make an enemy of him in twenty seconds. And Kuroo will egg him on.”

“I know!” Nishinoya bounced a little, and Asahi clenched his jaw. “How can you  _ not  _ be there to see it?”

“Noya, I don’t know —”

“Okay, here’s… here’s the thing.” Nishinoya ran a hand through his hair. The bleached bits stood up a little higher than the rest. “We kinda need to get out of my apartment.”

Asahi glanced around the tiny living room. He’d come over after Nishinoya’s last practice, they’d had a late pizza, and Asahi was currently trying to figure out how to segue naturally into a longer makeout than yesterday. He’d never given much thought to the activity before a couple days ago. Now it was all he really wanted to do. 

“We do?” Asahi tried.

“ _Yes_ ,” Nishinoya said firmly. 

“Why?” Asahi wasn’t going to give up.

Nishinoya gave him a Look. The Look darted up to Asahi’s bun, swept down the front of his v-neck sweater, lingered a little bit on Asahi’s thighs, and finally ended with a frustrated sigh and closed eyelids. Nishinoya hauled himself out of Asahi’s lap.

“We gotta.” He scooped up their plates and the empty pizza box and walked into the kitchen. 

Asahi leaned his head back against the couch and crossed his arms. He didn’t want to go to a party. He wanted to make out with Nishinoya. 

Nishinoya came back from the kitchen but didn’t sit down. He just stood next to the couch, rubbing his hands on his thighs and not looking at Asahi. 

Asahi cocked his head, still resting against the back of the couch. Flustered Nishinoya was a little disconcerting but also rather cute. Asahi was beginning to suspect that, just perhaps, he knew the reason behind it all. He wasn’t a complete idiot. 

He bit his cheek to keep his grin in check. He stood. Nishinoya’s eyes followed him up. “A-Asahi-san?”

Asahi walked past him and grabbed his coat from a hook by the door. He tossed Nishinoya’s leather jacket to him. “You win. We’re going.”

“Oh. Um. Cool.”

Asahi waited until Nishinoya tugged his jacket on, grabbed his keys and phone, and headed to the door. “Hang on.” 

Nishinoya turned around, a question in his eyes, and Asahi rested one forearm against the door above his head. He’d never thought about loving his height before, but of course Nishinoya seemed to be changing that too. 

Nishinoya flattened against the door. A breath escaped him, a tiny sigh, so full of  _ want _ that Asahi felt a blush crawl up his neck. He watched Nishinoya’s lashes lower against his cheeks as Asahi leaned forward.

At the barest touch of their lips, Nishinoya goddamn whimpered, but he didn’t pull his hands from where they spread against the door. Asahi wouldn’t have hated for those hands to pull at his shirt or wrap around his waist or anything else really, but there was something kind of… new and hot about not touching anywhere except each other’s lips. 

Asahi figured, from the way Noya’s mouth was open and letting go of tiny little gasps, that it wouldn’t be too difficult to talk him into staying. He ducked his head and nibbled at Nishinoya’s jaw, sort of testing the idea, and Nishinoya’s nails scraped against the door. 

“Asa _hiii_ , what the  _ fuck_.” Nishinoya sounded kind of wrecked, and Asahi closed his eyes. 

He pushed away from the door with a smirk. “Still wanna go?”

“Wha—” Nishinoya paused and eyed him suspiciously. “You did that on purpose.”

Asahi lifted his eyebrows. “What on purpose?”

“ _You._ ” Nishinoya prodded his chest with a finger. “We’re leaving. Put it back in your pants, Azumane.”

Asahi blushed hard. “I… I’m not the  _ only one_,” he said, rather nonsensically. 

From the look on Nishinoya’s face as he yanked open the door, Asahi wasn’t wrong.

* * *

 

It wasn’t hard to find Kuroo. It was never hard to find Kuroo. He wasn’t particularly loud, but Kuroo was…

Asahi sought for the word.

_ Charismatic.  _

He trailed after Nishinoya as the libero elbowed his way through young, pretty bodies to reach his teammate. 

Kuroo was surrounded by volleyball guys, basketball guys, soccer girls, and everything in between. He smirked at everyone in turn, and Asahi was pretty sure that everyone felt a bit more special because of it.

A feeling that was probably diminished a little by the icy stare of the tall, cool blonde next to him. 

“Tsukkiiii!!!” Nishinoya shoved his way through the inner circle and let himself be dwarfed by the two lanky boys. 

“Please don’t call me that,” Tsukishima said with an elegant sigh. He bowed his head ever so slightly. “Pleasure to see you again, Nishinoya-san.”

“Did you get that for two whole years, Noya?” Kuroo cackled. “I’ve been Kuroo-san for five hours now!”

Asahi had to grin. “Enjoying it?”

“I’ve been eating it up with a spoon!” Kuroo slapped Tsukishima on the back, and the slim blonde rocked forward a little. From the way his lips thinned, it was pretty obvious that Tsukishima wasn’t eating anything with a spoon.

“So you’re thinking of joining the team?” Nishinoya asked, eyes bright. Asahi smiled.  _ Damn,  _ he was so cool when he got worked up about volleyball.

“Who’s joining the team?” Shizuku slid up next to Asahi. She grinned, a little awkwardly, but knocked her shoulder against his arm. 

“Shizuku —!” But Nishinoya’s cheer was cut off almost immediately.

“Holy  _ shit_.” Riri sidled up behind Shizuku and propped her arm on the setter’s shoulder. Riri made a show of looking Tsukishima up and down. “Was it a requirement to be hot to play on your high-school team, Azumane-san?” 

“Hey, now.” Kuroo stepped in front of Tsukishima and spread his arms. “Hands off, Riri. Back. Down, girl. Bad.”

Riri tossed her wavy hair and stuck her tongue out at him. “No fun,” she said, but Asahi knew she wasn’t put off in the slightest. Tsukishima slid his glasses up his nose, but his cheeks were the faintest pink. Riri was intense like that. 

“Shizuku, Riri,” Asahi tried, “Tsukishima was one of the best blockers on —”

“Yeah, cuz  _ I  _ taught him,” Kuroo broke in, wrapping an arm around Tsukishima’s shoulders. “And now he’s gonna be the second-best blocker on  _ my  _ team. Finally.”

“Kuroo-san, I haven’t —” Tsukishima began.

Kuroo pretended to swoon, a hand at his forehead. “‘Kuroo-san!’ I am never giving that up.”

Tsukishima lifted Kuroo’s hand with his index finger and thumb. He dropped it pointedly. “I’m sure you could train some other poor undergrad to feed your kink.”

Asahi blushed at the word ‘kink,’ but Kuroo didn’t bat an eye. “It’s not the same, Tsukki, it’s not.”

“I’m leaving Sunday morning. You’ll have to come up with an alternative.”

Kuroo opened his mouth, but Asahi missed whatever the retort was going to be. Nishinoya leaned back against him, his back firm against Asahi’s abs. Asahi’s breath caught in his throat as Nishinoya reached up and pulled Asahi’s arms across his chest. He rested his chin on top of Ashi’s forearms. As if the two of them stood like this in public every day.

Asahi swallowed hard. 

Kuroo glanced at them out of the corner of his eye but didn’t react beyond a slightly wider smirk. Tsukishima paused halfway through some icy insult or other to observe them over his glasses. “Well,” he said slowly. “I see that finally happened. Congratulations.” And proceeded to deliver whatever scathing commentary he’d been in the middle of.

_ Oh shit oh shit ohshit.  _ Asahi licked his lips. PDA. He was engaging in flagrant PDA, at a college party, with Nishinoya Yuu. He glanced down a hallway, his mind’s eye recalling the stairs at the front of the house. To his (admittedly incomplete) knowledge, party PDA could mean — _holy god, will you shut up? He is hugging you, not taking your pants off._ A thought that did absolutely nothing to help Asahi’s situation. He truly was an idiot.

Nishinoya tugged his phone out of his pocket and started tapping out a text message. He wasn’t doing anything to be discreet, and Asahi was literally right over his shoulder, so…

“Tanaka?” Asahi said, surprised. The music was getting loud throughout the house, so he doubted anyone else could hear the words he spoke directly into Nishinoya’s ear.

Nishinoya looked up at him and winked. “He’s not working tonight.”

“But.” Asahi glanced at Shizuku. She was giggling at some ribald joke from Riri. “Is that okay?”

A frown flickered across Nishinoya’s face, but he shrugged. “She didn’t say she doesn’t want anything to do with him at all, right? I’m not setting them up on a blind date. They’ll just happen to be at the same party.”

Asahi pursed his lips but finally nodded. “We’ll… we’ll make sure she’s okay when she realizes he’s here, right? And if she doesn’t want anything to do with him, we’ll keep it from being awkward.”

“Oh my god,” Nishinoya whispered, “you’re making it sound like he’s a stalker.”

“Noya, she’s had some creepy dude from the basketball team all up in her shit for who knows how long,” Asahi said sternly. “She’s a nice girl.”

“ _Tanaka’s_ nice too!” Nishinoya huffed. “But yeah. Yeah, we’ll keep an eye out.”

“Right.” Asahi rested his chin on Nishinoya’s head, satisfied. “Finish your text.”

* * *

 

A good number of Kuroo’s fans wandered off when it became clear that there were old high-school connections happening. Asahi sat on the floor with Nishinoya in his lap, Kuroo leaned against a wall, and Riri draped herself over Shizuku cross-legged on the relatively clean carpet. Even Tsukishima eventually sank down to the floor, his first beer still in hand.

Asahi was a little surprised Riri was still with them, to be honest. He was  _ fairly  _ confident she wasn’t into Shizuku, though he supposed he wasn’t the best judge of things like that. But the music was loud, and a lot of people were dancing in the living room, and flirty things were starting to happen all around. The fact that Riri wasn’t in the middle of all that — or trying to pull anyone else in with her — seemed odd-ish.

However, farbeit from Asahi to single anyone out. He made certain to smile at her as often as he did at everyone else, and she seemed content to giggle at Shizuku and flirt outrageously with Tsukishima and needle Kuroo. Everything was fine.

Until ‘fine’ grew a pair of wings and flew out the living room window.

Asahi saw Riri’s face fall first. Then Shizuku sat up, her mouth tight. Both girls stared at something over Asahi’s shoulder. He noticed Kuroo and Tsukishima look up with varying levels of disinterest. 

“Look at this bunch of sleeping vaginas I found over here.”

Nishinoya tensed in Asahi’s lap. Asahi closed his eyes.  _ Fuck.  _ He’d managed to walk away from Kibikino twice before. But there were a lot more firebrands in the fire this time, and Asahi didn’t hold out much hope that Nishinoya would be able to keep his chill for any great length of time. 

“Aw, and what’s this?” Kibikino leaned over the two of them. “Azumane finally decided which of his harem he wanted to fuck after all? So sweet. Really, I mean it.”

“Oh, fuck off already.” But Riri’s voice shook a little. “Leave them alone.” 

“Can’t do that, sweetheart.” Kibikino spread his arms. A beer sloshed in one hand. Asahi couldn’t get a very good gauge on his sobriety, but Kibikino probably wasn’t holding his first drink. “Gotta figure out the territory, gotta ask questions. Unless.” He grinned, and it was obscene. “‘You wanna come answer all of ‘em for me?”

“All right, Kibikino, asshole hour is over.” Kuroo waved a hand. “After-hours assholery is happening out in the backyard, why don’t you go check it out?”

“You’re part of the harem too, Kuroo?” Kibikino covered his mouth, mockingly scandalized. “Oh, no, wait.” His eyes dragged over Tsukishima. “Looks like you brought your own tonight. Some gentlemen, as they say, do prefer blondes.”

“Oh, I like this place already.” Tsukishima stood. A third-year in high-school at long last, he was probably pushing two meters by now. Asahi and Nishinoya leaned back shamelessly to watch Kibikino’s reaction.

Tsukishima stepped over the rest of the group. He stopped at Kibikino’s side. The basketball captain tried to hold his cocky grin, but it lost a good deal of its effect when he had to look up several centimeters. 

“It’s so nice when the assholes crawl out of their pits to announce exactly who they are.” Tsukishima smiled down at Kibikino, brief as a wasp sting. “I’m getting another beer. Can I get anyone anything? No?” He walked away without looking back at anyone.

Silence reigned over the group for a solid three seconds. Broken, of course, by Kibikino.

“Whoa- _ho!_ ” He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave an exaggerated turn to stare after Tsukishima’s retreating figure. “Where’d you find  _ that  _ one, Kuroo? Gonna share? Never mind, talk to you fuckers later.”

Kibikino gave his collar a theatrical flip and followed Tsukishima into the kitchen.

Kuroo leaned back against the wall, his hand to his heart. “Fucking hell, I’m in love.” He heaved himself to his feet. “Don’t wait up, kids.”

* * *

 

Hiyori plopped down next to Riri. Asahi wasn’t certain how long it had been since they’d lost Kuroo and Tsukishima, but he’d started measuring time in Nishinoya’s beers. He was on his third and melting into Asahi a little deeper with each sip.

“I came through the garage,” Hiyori said by way of greeting. “Where I do believe Douche Weasel is having a bit of an epiphany.”

“Douche…?” Shizuku raised her eyebrows. 

“Bet you a burrito it’s Kibi-fucking-kino,” Riri muttered into her own beer.

“Ten points to Gryffindor.” Hiyori ran her hand down Riri’s long brown hair. “He’s curled up in a corner, cuddling a beer, and asking anyone who passes by why are all the volleyball boys so pretty?”

Asahi, Nishinoya, Shizuku, and Riri whipped their heads around in unison to stare at her. 

“ _No,_ ” Riri breathed. “He is  _ not — _he has been an absolute _ asshat  _ to every girl who ever — _Kibikino?_ ” she squawked.

“Kibikino,” Shizuku repeated flatly. “The Kibikino who lives next door to me. Who has asked me on a daily basis in a million different ways for three months to suck his dick.”

Asahi stared at her, horrified. “He _has?!_ ”

She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.  Nishinoya growled something under his breath.

“Not the first conflicted guy who’s tried to fall back on cardboard masculinity.” Hiyori nodded to herself. She glanced over at Asahi, still cradling Nishinoya in his lap. “And… you two have worked out all your… misunderstandings, I take it?”

Nishinoya wriggled deeper into Asahi’s arms and let out some kind of cooing noise from where he was tucked underneath Asahi’s chin. 

Asahi grinned. He figured he probably looked like an idiot, but  _ meh.  _ “He’s my boyfriend,” he said. Stupidly. Inanely. Happily. All the adverbs, probably, except for  _ intelligently.  _

Nishinoya went still in his arms. 

Shizuku’s hands went to her mouth. Riri squealed softly. Hiyori smirked and leaned back on a hand to tug something out of her back pocket. “Here.” She held out a marker pen to Nishinoya. “Put your name on things you don’t want other people to eat. First rule of college.”

“ _Hiyori_ ,” Asahi protested as Nishinoya grabbed the pen eagerly. He nearly swallowed his tongue when Nishinoya pressed a sloppy kiss underneath his jaw.

* * *

 

Riri had just succeeded in teasing Hiyori out to the dance floor when Tanaka dropped to the floor next to Asahi and Nishinoya. He still had his keys in his hands. Asahi noticed that his black T-shirt was inside-out and wondered how he could let him know.

“Couldn’t get here faster, sorry, Noya.” Tanaka even sounded a bit breathless. “Dad wanted me to stock the liquor fridge at the restaurant. Hi, Shizuku!”

_ Kudos for not sounding too nervous_. Asahi tried not to watch Shizuku too closely. She was blushing, yeah, but she had been drinking. Also, she blushed rather a lot just in general. 

“Anything interesting come in this shipment?” Nishinoya asked. Asahi was proud of him.  _ Easy conversation, keep them both occupied, keep it light — _

“Same usual stuff. Trying to get Dad to try some new things, but he says the clientele isn’t up for it yet.” Tanaka shrugged and grinned. “Dunno why he doesn’t just give up. It’s gonna happen.”

Asahi and Nishinoya nodded. There was death, there was taxes, and then there was Tanaka trying new shit. 

“Seriously, after you took a whole semester of Latin dance in high school, I don’t know why he tries to tell you not to do stuff.” Nishinoya crossed his arms.

“You took Latin dance?” Shizuku sat forward, bracing her hands against the floor.

“Goddammit, Noya.” But Tanaka faced her manfully. “The music’s cool, so. Thought I’d try it out.”

“Whatever!” Nishinoya crowed. “You took that class just because that one girl —!”

Asahi slapped his hand over Nishinoya’s mouth. He smiled brightly at Shizuku. “Do you have any particular interest in Latin music, Shizuku?”

“Oh.” She sat back on her heels, tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I just… I listen to a lot of different stuff, and this past week, I’ve been kind of on a, um, salsa kick.” She stared into her beer, her ears turning pink.

Asahi and Nishinoya swung their heads to gauge Tanaka’s reaction. The poor boy.

“Have you —” Tanaka licked his lips and cleared his throat. “— tried listening to any bachata?”

* * *

 

“Boyfriend.”

Asahi tried to glance over his shoulder at Nishinoya. Nishinoya apparently had a five-beer limit and was currently draped over Asahi’s back.

“Yer my  _ boyfriend_,” Nishinoya insisted. 

Asahi inhaled deeply to keep the butterflies in his gut at bay. It was a chilly spring night. Asahi had decided it was time to leave the party after realizing that literally  _ all  _ of their friends had slipped quietly away. Of course, by that time, Nishinoya was three sheets to the wind, and visions of passionate makeouts slipped sadly from Asahi’s mind.

“Right, Asahi-san?  _ Boyfriends._” Nishinoya’s breath was hot on his ear. 

“Sounds about right.” Asahi adjusted his grip and pushed Nishinoya further up his back.

“Sounds damn well  _ perfect. _ ‘S what it sounds like.” Nishinoya hiccuped. He let Asahi walk in silence for about a minute, and then: “Yer place or mine?” He snickered like a 12-year-old saying “dick” for the first time.

Asahi smiled despite himself. “Your place. And then I go to my place.”

“Whuuuuutt?” Nishinoya leaned back, and Asahi stumbled at the new center of gravity. “Fuckin’  _ nonsense  _ is that?”

“Noya…”

“Yer stayin’ with me.”

“Noya, really, you’re drunk.  _ Again_ —” 

“Excuses won’t save you this time, sexy man.”

“ _Noya!_ ” Asahi bit his lip and glanced around. As always, the neighborhood was quiet and the sidewalks deserted at 2 a.m.

“I mean it!” Nishinoya said, trying to sound stern and failing thanks to the five beers. He fell forward heavily and wrapped his arms around Asahi’s neck. “Fuckin’ stay with me tonight,” he whispered, lips moving against skin.

Asahi slowed. Closed his eyes and turned his face to the sky. He sighed. “You got an extra toothbrush?”

Nishinoya did not, Asahi discovered, have an extra toothbrush.

Asahi eyed the single toothbrush in the cup on the sink. It was still wet. Asahi leaned back to glance through the bathroom door into a bedroom the size of a postage stamp. He could just barely see Nishinoya’s foot dangling off the bed in the dark. However, he could hear Nishinoya’s snores quite clearly.

_ Ear plugs. If we’re doing the sleepover thing, I gotta get some ear plugs.  _ Asahi reached for Nishinoya’s toothbrush with grim determination.  _ And a toothbrush. _

When Asahi flicked off the bathroom light, it occurred to him that he was going to be sleeping in Nishinoya’s bed tonight. He didn’t quite know what to do with that thought. He supposed he could perhaps sleep on the floor. Asahi raised an eyebrow. Except he wasn’t certain where any extra blankets would be, there probably wasn’t an extra futon, and Nishinoya was a dreadful housekeeper. 

He would not be sleeping on the floor.

Asahi gripped a corner of Nishinoya’s duvet and inhaled as deeply and quietly as he could.  _ Right.  _ He lowered himself onto the mattress. Nishinoya remained still as death. If death snored and smelled of beer. 

Asahi sighed and did his best to gently shove Nishinoya to one side. This was not how he’d been imagining his first time sleeping with his new boyfriend. However — he curled up behind Nishinoya, a hair’s breadth from touching him but managing not to — this wasn’t awful.

Right before he let his eyes drift shut, Asahi noticed how relaxing it was to time his breaths with Nishinoya’s.

* * *

 

“Holy  _ shit._” 

Asahi blinked, unsure at first if the room was that dark or if he was still staring at the back of his eyelids. “Mmf?” he managed.

Nishinoya was sitting upright in bed, staring down at him. “Shit,” he breathed again.

“Noya?” Asahi pushed hair out of his eyes and tried to focus.

“ _Ohmigod._ ” Nishinoya cleared his throat. “H-hi! Asahi… san.” A corner of his mouth tweaked in what was probably supposed to be a smile.

“Hi.” Asahi coughed and tried to sound normal. He glanced at the bedroom window. Even with the blinds down, he could tell it was still very dark out. “Something wake you up?”

“Um?” Nishinoya tugged at the collar of his T-shirt with two hands. “Not really? Maybe? I’m gonna get some water. You want some?” He hopped out of bed and scurried to the door before Asahi could marshal the words in his head. Anything he would have said flew out his brain when he noticed Nishinoya’s T-shirt was only paired with some faded blue boxers.

Asahi tucked the duvet around himself. He wasn’t any better — undershirt, check, boxer briefs, check.  _ Thank god they’re both pretty new?  _ It hadn’t seemed like a big deal when Nishinoya was all but passed out, and Asahi had been fretting about toothbrushes. Now, however...

The room went even darker, and Asahi looked up to see Nishinoya silhouetted in the bedroom door. He handed him a glass of water without commentary. 

Asahi sat up and downed half of it, trying to figure out what the hell to say. Nishinoya was nearly vibrating with nervous energy. “Noya —”

“I’m sorry!” 

Asahi blinked. Nishinoya clutched his glass of water to his chest and gave an awkward bow. 

“I keep doing really stupid things, and you had to bring me  _ home_, and now you’re _ here_ —” Nishinoya glanced at him, and Asahi felt his eyes wander over him before Nishinoya squeezed them shut. “— like _ that_, and I just —” 

“Noya.” Asahi set his glass on the floor and held out his hand. “Sh.”

“S- _sh?!_ ” But Nishinoya took his hand, let himself be pulled back onto the bed and into Asahi’s lap. “Excuse  _ you_, I’m in the middle of a freak-out.” 

“I noticed.” Asahi wrapped his arms around Nishinoya’s chest and rested his chin on his shoulder. “Why?”

“I… I.” Nishinoya fidgeted, testing the strength of Asahi’s hold. “I totally forgot you were here, all right? It was a bit of a shock to wake up like that.”

“Waking up next to me is a shock?” Asahi teased. “That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to me, Noya.”

“Waking up next to you after I was  _ drunk off my ass _ is not how I wanted to do it, you jerk,” Nishinoya groused, pulling at Asahi’s arms.

Asahi didn’t budge. He turned his lips into Nishinoya’s neck, hoping to heaven his new boyfriend couldn’t feel his heart hammering in his chest. “How did you want to do it?” he whispered.

Nishinoya froze. 

_ Maybe this is a little fast.  _ Asahi loosened his arms a little. 

Nishinoya twisted in his lap, took him by the shoulders, and pinned him back to the bed. Asahi winced, his head bouncing against the thin pillows, his arms flying over his head.

Nishinoya straddled him, a knee on either side of his ribs. “You  _ fucker_,” he growled. “‘How did I want to do it?’ You complete _ ass_.” He gripped Asahi’s hair in one hand, squeezed his bicep with the other. Asahi’s eyes slid shut when he felt teeth on his neck. 

“I  _ was  _ going to wait a couple more weeks.” Lips moved against Asahi’s collarbone. “I was  _ going  _ to take you to a nice dinner. Wine, candles, the whole fucking nine yards.” Nishinoya sucked at the curve between his neck and shoulder, and Asahi might have moaned. “And then I was going to be super casual and suave about the whole thing.” A tongue did shiver-inducing things under Asahi’s ear. “And then —”

“What does... a casual and suave Nishinoya look like?” Asahi tried not to gasp, he really did.

Nishinoya paused but probably not soon enough to avoid leaving another mark. He sat back on his heels. “What are you trying to say, Asahi-san?” Raising an eyebrow in challenge, he pulled his T-shirt over his head. Asahi had a couple seconds for his brain to register  _ damn… _

Nishinoya leaned back over Asahi, pinning his shoulders flat to the mattress, and Asahi took the opportunity to appreciate how lean he was. Compact muscle responded with every move — trapezius, deltoid, pectoral, abdominal, oblique, even anterior, which  _ fuck  _ to get those to stand out was just ridiculous. What kind of workouts was the volleyball team into these days?

“You’re staring, Asahi-san,” Nishinoya cooed. 

Asahi’s eyes snapped back up to his. “W-was not.” 

“I want to stare too.” Nishinoya slipped a hand underneath Asahi’s T-shirt. He rubbed a thumb over the skin just above the band of his boxers. 

Asahi pressed his head back into the pillows, feeling his shirt slide up his ribs. He reached for Nishinoya’s hips with both hands. “Not as impressive as you are,” he breathed. “Sorry in advance.”

“... I am not even dignifying that with a response.” Nishinoya pushed the shirt the rest of the way up. Asahi lifted his back just off the mattress and yanked it over his head.

Nishinoya took the shirt from him, his throat working a little. “Ah. Yes, very… _very_ disappointing.”

Asahi lowered himself back to the pillows, watching his T-shirt fall to the floor so he didn’t have to look at Nishinoya. “Thought you said you weren’t going to dignify —”

“Yes, well, I’ve changed my mind. Sometimes the shit you say is too stupid not to.” Nishinoya planted his hands on Asahi’s abs, and Asahi gave an involuntary grunt. Nishinoya proceeded to walk his hands up his ribs, skating over Asahi’s sternum and up his chest. “Yeah.” His voice was low. “You’re an idiot.” 

Asahi wished he could register that as an insult, but Nishinoya’s hands were just this side of too damn distracting. “You say the sweetest things.” 

He let his eyes close and focused on what his hands could feel. Nishinoya’s sharp hips, his warm skin. The way his ribs expanded with a quick breath at Asahi’s touch. He ghosted his hands along Nishinoya’s back, up his neck, across his shoulders. There were smooth curves and hard muscle everywhere, and Asahi wanted to feel fucking  _ all of it.  _

“I… _god._ Asahi?”

Asahi opened an eye. Then both. Wide.

Nishinoya was bracing himself above him, arms locked, his head hanging between shoulder blades. His eyes were wrenched shut. He had his bottom lip in his teeth again. “Asahi,” he whispered again. It was almost a whine. 

Asahi brought a hand up to Noya’s mouth and tugged at his lip. Nishinoya turned his face into his palm, bit at the fleshy part of his thumb, and groaned. It was a sound that went straight to Asahi’s dick. 

_ Shit.  _

_ SHIT.  _ This was not going to be resolved as quickly as the last times, was it? “Noya…?”

Nishinoya sat back on Asahi’s stomach without opening his eyes. He pressed kisses into Asahi’s palm, holding it there by the wrist. He dragged Asahi’s other hand from his hip up to his chest and arched his back, guiding Asahi’s hand slowly back down his sternum. Asahi nearly came up off the mattress. Once more, Nishinoya brought the hand up to his chest and, with a rocking motion, slid it down to his waistband. 

_ Fuck_, Asahi could feel him now. Felt him when he arched his back, felt him when he did that _ goddammit  _ rocking thing with his hips.

Asahi sat up, pushing Nishinoya off him. They both stared at each other, breathing heavily, on their knees on Nishinoya’s bird’s nest of a bed. 

“Noya…” Asahi took his face in both his hands. He felt how damp Nishinoya’s hair was, saw how blown wide those gold eyes were. Nishinoya gripped his wrists, his hands warm.

Nishinoya’s brow furrowed. “S-sorry, I just… I wanted—”

“Tell me what you want, Noya.” Asahi ran a thumb over an eyebrow, trying to smooth out the frown. “Because I… I want —” Words were stupid. They never worked right. With a helpless sort of sigh, Asahi kissed Nishinoya’s cheek. “Just. Tell me if you want me to stop,” he whispered.

“Stop?” Nishinoya pulled back and stared at him. Disbelief radiated from him. “What… what  _ anything  _ did I do that made you think I wanted to stop?” His chest heaved, his breath still coming heavy.

“Okay, yes, well.” Asahi pursed his lips. “Valid point. But I just wanted to —”

Nishinoya’s groan was heartfelt. He stood up on his knees and put his hands on Asahi’s shoulders. He glared down at Asahi. “Do you want to stop?” he asked, his voice low.

Asahi’s gaze snaked up from Nishinoya’s knees all the way to his eyes, with a decent pause on the way for the tent in Nishinoya’s boxers. “No,” he choked.

“Yeah.” Nishinoya cupped his chin. He straddled one of Asahi’s thighs and brought their mouths together. “And if you don’t touch me soon, I… I’m going to come on your leg, I swear.”

Asahi snorted, a completely inelegant sound during a kiss. “Your threats suck.” He let his hand drift down to Nishinoya’s hip. Slide over the faded boxers, tease the hem. God, Nishinoya’s inner thighs were  _ on fire.  _ Heat filled his hand, and Asahi wanted to touch him, wanted to hear what he sounded like.

Nishinoya caught his breath at the first brush of Asahi’s fingers outside his boxers. He slid back off of Asahi’s thigh, his knees spreading on the mattress. Asahi followed with his hand, palming him through his boxers, revelling in the short gasps. Nishinoya gripped his biceps, and Asahi felt nails pierce his skin. 

Asahi wasn’t one hundred percent certain how any of this should go, but he tugged at Nishinoya’s boxers. Helped him step out of them, one knee at a time, and  _ holy shit.  _ Asahi held most of Nishinoya’s weight now, and he could see down the length of his back. Nishinoya’s ass was  _ perfection —  _

“Oh my god, Asahi.” Nishinoya ground his teeth. “ _What_ are you doing?” He spread his legs wider, panting, his nails clawing up to Asahi’s shoulders. 

Mumbling a nonsensical apology, Asahi pressed a hand to the small of Nishinoya’s back. While his other hand reduced Nishinoya to a puddle of shivering moans, Asahi let his fingers spread over Nishinoya’s ass. The muscle was hard, resisted his fingers, and Asahi was embarrassed to hear his own voice whispering after Nishinoya’s. 

“Asah — right th...” Nishinoya pulled his hips back, adding to the tension of Asahi’s grip. Asahi closed his eyes and felt the change, knew he was close.  _ Noya. Noya, come on, please let me get this right for you.  _ Asahi moved his hand, rubbed a thumb over the head, and Nishinoya’s grip seized like steel traps around his biceps. 

Nishinoya’s forehead crashed into Asahi’s chest with a sharp, wordless shout. Asahi held him as Noya’s shoulders heaved, felt his palms wick off the sweat from his back. Asahi was pretty certain it would take next to nothing to join him, but right now…

_ Right now. _

Asahi closed his eyes and lowered his head to bury his nose in Nishinoya’s hair. He smelled like sweat and unmade beds and nothing particularly sexy or appealing except that he was Nishinoya. And Asahi had just — 

_ Oh god.  _ Asahi squeezed his eyes shut harder and tried to stop the blush. They had just — well, Nishinoya had at least — um.

“Asahi?” Nishinoya lifted his head, breathing in deeply through his nose. “How… okay,  _ god,  _ I’m still seeing spots in my eyes.” He shook his head. He stood up on his knees again, bracing himself against Asahi’s shoulders. 

Asahi held him by the elbows, a little worried. It was their first time, he doubted he was  _ that  _ good. “Noya, is everything —?”

“I wanna suck you off, ‘k?”

Asahi’s eyes went wide. He was fairly sure his face drained entirely of color even as his dick stood up and took notice. “Um. Uh?”

Nishinoya pushed on his shoulders a little, and Asahi let himself fall back to the mattress. He hadn’t realized he was so sweaty until the sheets stuck to him. 

“Okay, so.” Nishinoya rested a forearm on Asahi’s chest and began to tug down his boxer briefs with his free hand. “Confession time.” 

Asahi gulped. Nishinoya’s voice was still kind of rough, and with his hands pretty much everywhere, Asahi wasn’t certain he was going to be capable of paying attention to things like confessions for much longer.

“For about, oh, two years now, I have really,  _ really  _ wanted —” Nishinoya leaned back on his heels to tug the briefs off entirely. “— to. Um. Wow.” He stared.

Asahi licked his lips. “W-wow? Is that a… that’s good, right? Is that a good wow?”

Nishinoya raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. “Sorry. Distracted. Yeah. As I was, uh. Damn, Asahi, if you don’t want me to go down on you, you’d better tell me fast. Cuz  _ fuck._” 

Asahi craned his neck to look back at the wall, covering his eyes with his arms. “Dammit, Noya. Just.” He felt Nishinoya’s hands on either of his thighs and swallowed hard.

“Just…?” Nishinoya prodded.

Asahi didn’t trust himself to speak. He nodded. Quickly, with his arms still over his face. He heard Nishinoya take a deep breath, releasing it in a little laugh. 

“Yeah, well.” Nishinoya’s voice sounded dangerously close to Asahi’s hips. “Never done this before, so be, you know, vocal if you don’t like something.”

“Noya —  _ aaaahhhh_.” Asahi arched his back, trying to keep his ass on the mattress. _ Oh my fucking god, this is not going to take any time at all. Oh shit oh shit ohshit. Fucking hell, this is…  _

Asahi had about two seconds (or so it felt) to contemplate how humiliating it was going to be to come so fast. 

Then it was perhaps a short eternity of feeling like he was creating a new solar system in his chest.

And then it was .3 seconds of needing to alert the neighbors that he was having sex at five a.m.

And finally, Asahi fell into the beginning of a good twenty minutes of overwhelming, hellish embarrassment.

When his breathing came back down to a non-Olympian pace, and after he was more or less certain his face wasn’t glowing in the dark, Asahi peeked out from underneath his arm. Nishinoya was sitting back on his heels, straddling his thighs, his hand frozen in mid-swipe across his mouth. He was staring down at Asahi like he was a nationals trophy.

“Augh.” Asahi reached for one of the pillows and covered his face with it.

“Wait, what? No, no, no.” The pillow tore out of his hands, and Nishinoya threw himself onto Asahi’s chest. Cue a decidedly unsexy grunt. 

Asahi looked up at him. Those gold eyes, that huge,  _ ridiculous  _ smile that made him feel as tall as a mountain. In a good way. Asahi felt heat prick his eyes ( _nope. Not right now. Nope_ ) and reached up to run his fingers through Nishinoya’s outrageous hair. “Now what?” he whispered.

A slow smirk spread across Nishinoya’s face. Asahi eyed him. Four years of friendship, two days of dating, one sexual encounter, and Asahi was definitely wary of what that smirk meant.

Nishinoya twisted suddenly and wallowed across Asahi’s chest, futzing with something on the floor. 

“Noya?” It was a little uncomfortable, but Asahi wasn’t too ready to complain. He had a front-row view of Nishinoya’s ass at the moment. 

“Got it!” Nishinoya pulled himself upright in a not-unlovely display of toned muscle. He held up a black marker pen in triumph.

“What?” Asahi propped himself on his elbows. “Is that from —?”

“Gonna follow Hiyori-san’s advice.” Nishinoya uncapped the pen with a flourish. “Asahi, your arm, if you please.”

“My  _ arm_. What, you’re just going to write your name on my arm? Like I’m a bento box or something?” 

“You rather I write it on your dick?” Nishinoya’s eyes brightened. “Your ass?”

Asahi gaped at him. Then, with a sigh, he held out his left arm. The scent of marker pen filled the tiny bedroom, along with Nishinoya’s delighted squeal. 

“Can you even see?” Asahi asked dubiously.

“Not a big deal. If it’s that bad, you can just wash it off tomorrow, yeah?”

They slept nested like sweaty spoons in an untidy drawer. They woke to five missed calls, twenty-two texts, and thirteen obscene emojis from Tanaka, Shizuku, and Kuroo. They began the day with slow kisses, bad morning breath…

and the realization that you cannot just wash off a marker pen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have all been incredibly lovely on this little foray into AsaNoya land. I'm probably going to follow this up with a Tanaka/Shizuku fic and possibly some Kuroo/Tsuki. Subscribe to me as an author on AO3 if you want an update when that happens.
> 
> See you on the flip side, gorgeous!


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an ask someone sent me on Tumblr. Felt it fit here!

“Take notes. Watch and learn.”

Noya scowled but focused on Asahi’s hands wrapping tape around his ankle. “Dunno why I have to learn how to do this. You’re at every game.”

“But you need to do this for every practice, every time you go on a run, every time you play a pickup game of football in the quad...” Asahi was grateful he could wrap any joint in his sleep. Noya’s calf muscles were spectacular, and he was doing his damnedest to keep his touch professional. But a certain amount of groping was just unavoidable. Being your boyfriend’s physical trainer was simultaneously a wonderful and terrible position to be in.

“I never get it as good as you,” Noya pouted. He flopped back on Asahi’s bed, completely done with the ankle-wrap lesson.

“That’s because you never practice,” Asahi insisted from where he knelt on the floor. “And it doesn’t have to be perfect for the less strenuous activities, I can still do it for your games—”

A groan from Noya made Asahi swallow the rest of his sentence. Golden eyes peered at him from underneath a slim hand. Asahi recognized that look. He just hadn’t been expecting to see it so early into their Saturday afternoon. Certain bits of his anatomy awakened and gave the general nod that this was not an insurmountable challenge.

“Noya...” He tried to sound appropriately disapproving. They’d promised each other at least two hours of homework.

“ _Strenuous activities_ , Asahi-san?” Noya propped himself up on his elbows. “For real, you can’t use words like that around me and not face the consequences.”

Asahi had to laugh. “That is not enough to turn anyone on.”

“You have an unreliable control group. No one else has Azumane Asahi for a boyfriend.”

Heat flooded his face. “My god, Noya.”

Noya’s grin was evil soaked in sex. “I wanna try something.” His voice was low, and Asahi was fucked.

“Homework?” Asahi croaked. He felt he had to make an attempt.

“Later.” Noya got to his knees on the bed, radiating challenge.

Asahi felt the breath leave his lungs. It was so hard to get enough air when Noya was like this. You’d think after a couple months of dating, some of it would have worn off. “What—” He licked his lips. “—what do you want to try?”

Noya walked forward on his knees, rested his elbows on Asahi’s shoulders. “I want,” he began in a seductive tone, “to shower with you. You’ve never let me.”

Asahi was certain he was blushing from the roots of his hair all the way to his toenails. “Hygiene is a very personal thing,” he babbled, “and it’s not like you’ve ever, you know, seriously _asked_ —”

“I’m pretty sure I say you can join me in the shower after literally every practice.”

“Jokes you tell in front of the entire team don’t count!”

“Asahi-san.” Noya leveled a flat look at him. “If I ever joke about wanting to see you naked in any capacity, please feel free to take me very seriously.” His hand swept up Asahi’s neck, drawing out a shiver.

“Um.” Asahi tried to keep words in his brain. “Well. I did buy a couple new towels last week.”

“Aw.” Noya leaned forward until his lips brushed Asahi’s ear. “I wanna see you in one of `em.”

“Fuck, Noya.” Asahi closed his eyes. Every muscle relaxed as Noya’s mouth traveled from his ear, across his jaw, down his neck. Hands held his face, swept over his shoulders, rested at his pounding heart.

“Yeah...” Noya mumbled against his throat. “In the shower?”

Nerves went haywire in Asahi’s gut. “You go in first.”

Noya pulled back just enough so that Asahi could see his suspicious frown. “You’re not just gonna leave me in there, right?”

“If I’m not in there five minutes after you, you have full permission to wander through my apartment naked and soaking wet.”

Delight shone in Noya’s eyes. “You never let me do that.”

“I said five minutes,” Asahi warned. “Do not drip water all over my floors just because.”

“How do you not find that sexy?” Noya actually sounded curious. “Me, just walking around, naked and wet?”

Put like that, Asahi questioned his own judgment. But he stood up and hoped his face gave the impression of finality. “I appreciate sexiness that doesn’t involve extra housework.” He rather spoiled the effect of his comeback with, “You need more than five minutes?”

“I don’t even want—” Noya paused. Glanced away for half a second. Then, “Actually, gimme ten.”

Asahi had not been expecting that. “Sure? I’ll, uh, put some laundry away, I guess?”

Noya patted his cheek. “That’s my man.” He bounced off the bed and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom.

Asahi did not put laundry away. He paced his room. Picked out some clean boxers and sweatpants for afterward. And generally tried not to panic about sharing a shower with Nishinoya Yuu. People bathed together all the time. It wasn’t such an unusual idea for...he gulped...lovers to shower together.

He chewed his bottom lip. He tried to think of everything he normally did in a shower that he’d never do in front of anyone. He brushed his teeth in the shower...would that gross Noya out? He wouldn’t this time. He might mention it later.

It was a difficult thing for Asahi to wrap his brain around. Other than the obvious nudity, what was the appeal? It wasn’t a particularly seductive activity, cleaning yourself, especially if you were doing a thorough job of it.

Ten minutes passed, and all Asahi did was stew.

He knocked on the bathroom door and poked his head in. Steam billowed generously. “Noya?” He cleared his throat and tried for something less uncertain. “Coming in.”

“Oh thank _god_.”

Asahi paused, his T-shirt half over his head, and stared at the shower curtain. That was a very...specific tone of voice for Noya. He glanced at the sink. A bottle of lube stood there next to a purple condom packet.

“Asahi-san, for the love, get your ass in here.”

Asahi tossed his shirt to the floor, shoved his jeans down to his ankles, and stepped out of them, heart in his throat. He slid the curtain aside.

Noya reached for him with both hands. “ _Now_ , my god, do you even know, come on.”

His hair was down from its usual spikes, and he was slippery all over. The sensation was new and strange under Asahi’s fingers. It wouldn’t be...awful to get used to.

Noya pressed into him hard, straining up for a kiss, and Asahi’s back met the tile wall roughly. “Careful!” Asahi tried to warn against his mouth. “We could— _mmmff—_ fall!”

“Don’t care.” Noya deepened the kiss before reiterating, “Really fuckin’ don’t care. You took forever, c’mon, touch me.”

Asahi didn’t know how he’d missed it before now (anxiety? shower safety?), but Noya was hard as a rock. Asahi’s body knew what to do with that information these days. Noya grinned into the kiss. “Heya,” he said, voice low.

Embarrassment should not be a thing anymore in these moments, and for the most part, it wasn’t. However, this wasn’t exactly what Asahi had been expecting. “Didn’t...didn’t you want to shower?” he panted.

Noya leaned back, a movement that had the delicious countermeasure of pressing his hips harder into Asahi’s. “I did,” he said slowly. “That’s why I had you wait ten minutes?”

“Oh.” Asahi thought on this. “Well, then I guess I should—” His sentence ended in a choked-off moan.

One of Noya’s slick hands had scoped out a path down Asahi’s abs and was currently testing the hardness of his cock. “`kay, I’m kinda getting the impression I should spell out a couple things. The first being—” He coughed. “ _I’m_ clean.”

Asahi stared down at his pink cheeks, the golden eyes that looked a little unsure. Understanding slowly reared its head.

“And the second, kind of a direct result of the first thing, really, is that I really, _really_ would appreciate it if your actual shower could wait till later.” Noya chewed his lip but met Asahi’s eyes. The heat in them seared current from Asahi’s brain straight to his dick.

Asahi licked his lips, tasted the fine spray from the shower. “In here? You sure?” Everything was wet and slick. He was always conscious of trying not to flatten Noya in ideal conditions, let alone a slip-hazard like this.

Noya groaned and held his face tightly with both hands. “Stop thinking,” he insisted. “Stop thinking, let me get you hard, and then please, as a reward for ten minutes of holding back an orgasm while I got ready for this, will you fuck me in your shower? The lube’s right outside, and I brought a condom.”

“I...” Asahi wondered that steam wasn’t rising off his own skin. “Hands. Your hands, not your mouth,” he said hoarsely. “I haven’t washed.”

“Whatever you want.” Noya lifted his chin to layer kisses on Asahi’s collarbone. His hand at Asahi’s cock picked up a purposeful rhythm, the other sliding over his chest, his abs, up his neck, down his back. Asahi closed his eyes and tried to hold on. Noya was beyond clever with his hands.

He skated his fingers down the slope of Noya’s taut back. His lean body was familiar territory by now, but one Asahi would never get tired of discovering again and again. He traced the curve of a deliciously toned ass. When Noya gave a particularly demanding tug, he groaned and let his fingers slide between the hard muscle.

 _Oh._ Noya had been busy in his ten minutes alone.

“Noya...”

“I’m ready,” he said quickly, voice breathy. “I’m so ready, get—get the condom?” His thumb slipped over the head of his cock, and Asahi pressed his open mouth hard against Noya’s hair to keep the noise at an acceptable level.

“S-stop, then.”

Words were beginning to fail Asahi at a spectacular rate. He took Noya by the shoulders, turned him to face the tiled wall in the shower. It had taken a few times before he’d let himself move Noya without asking express permission. It was easier now that he was pretty sure Noya liked it _a lot_.

He rested his cheek on the coolness of Noya’s wet hair, slid both hands down his chest, knowing to trail fingertips over hard nipples. Noya stretched his hands up the tiled wall with a groan and arched his back, pressing his ass back into Asahi’s hips. Asahi was fairly certain he never wanted to shower alone ever again.

“Asahi...Asahi, touch me,” Noya begged. His fingers flexed against the tile.

“Hang on,” Asahi whispered. Keeping one hand on Noya’s back, he slid the shower curtain aside and grabbed the things from the sink. He bit the insides of his mouth to keep the sensation from being too much as he put on the condom.

Asahi reached for Noya’s cock, swallowed his own noises at the feel of it in his hand, hard and hot. He scooped up Noya’s left thigh and held him wide. “Put your foot...yeah, right there,” Asahi said, panting, helping Noya feel for the soap cubby. “Careful.”

Noya whimpered but was obviously trying to stay still, small tremors shivering over his body. “Can you...oh god, _please_.”

“Shh, shh, I got you.” Asahi bit his lip as he pressed a couple of lubed-up fingers against his ass. God, this wouldn’t take much. Evidence hinted that maybe Noya had been planning this for a lot longer than his ten extra minutes in the shower. He crooked his fingers in a come-hither motion, found the place that drew out Noya’s moans.

They’d learned pretty quickly that Noya wasn’t able to take all of him, but generally Asahi knew the feel of what Noya liked him to do. Standing up in a shower, however, with one of Noya’s legs propped up on a soap dish was a new variable.

“Asahi,” Noya said, panting, “inside. Fuckin’ _now_.”

“So impatient,” Asahi teased, but his mouth fell open a little as his dick slid past hard muscle. Noya was ready, but it was still an enveloping tightness he’d never be immune to.

He could feel his control slipping, not that he’d had a tight handle on it since he’d walked into the bathroom and seen the condom on the sink. Noya’s back was dappled with beads of water, his shoulders flexed to press against the wall. He bore down on Asahi’s cock harder than usual, and Asahi concentrated on counting to ten.

He shifted a little, stroked Noya hard to encourage him to relax, and thrust his hips gently. Noya shouted and his fingers scratched at the tile above his head. Asahi reached up a hand to stop him from splintering his nails. “Is that good?” he whispered into Noya’s hair. “Tell me...”

“Fuckin’—yeah, `s good.” Noya groaned, and the arch in his back deepened. “Harder, but just—”

“Yeah, I know.” Asahi let himself find a rhythm, careful to not drive too deep, just enough to hit the sensitivity that made Noya shake.

“There, _there_ , yeah...” Noya hissed between his teeth. He curled a hand around Asahi’s wrist.

Heat poured into Asahi’s chest, a heady combination of pride and happiness and lust. Noya was his, like this he was _his_. He was the one making him sound like this, beg like this, want like this. He ran his thumb over the slit of Noya’s cock just to hear him shout. The noise made Asahi’s hips stutter.

“Noya, are you...? I’m...I’m close,” he whispered. “What do you want?”

“Inside,” Noya gasped. “Can you come inside me? I want that, _god_ , I want that.”

Asahi needed to pull him tighter, and slid his hand down from Noya’s grasp to hold his hip hard. He could feel his grip on Noya’s cock falter as his mind lost itself to pleasure.

“Harder, Asahi—please, harder!”

“Yuu...” Asahi pulled back his fist with firm pressure, and Noya jerked, coming onto the shower wall, loud moans echoing off the tile. He bore down hard, and Asahi tried to hold him through it, but his own release was right there with Noya’s muscles tightening around him. He kept his feet but barely as he shook against him, rhythm be damned, gentleness a distant goal.

They stood there like that, gasping for steamy air, for forgotten seconds. Asahi felt Noya bearing down gently again, and pulled out slowly.

Noya sighed and rested his forehead on the tiled wall.

Asahi took off the condom carefully, tied it up, and set it in the sink. Reached for his loofah and the shower gel and started to gently sponge them both down. “Water’s gonna get cool soon,” he said softly. Noya still hadn’t moved.

When Asahi had satisfied himself that Noya was clean and wasn’t going to fall face first onto the floor of the shower, he started scrubbing at himself quickly. Cold showers were the worst. If he hurried now, he could always collapse like a limp rag in bed later.

“No, wait, lemme.” Noya pushed himself away from the wall and took the loofah from him. He scrubbed ineffectually at Asahi’s chest.

Asahi smiled down at him, half bemused, half stupidly in love. “You’re gonna make this take longer.”

“I can help,” Noya said, too relaxed to sound belligerent. He swiped at a couple of soap bubbles, then slowly reached up to comb fingers through Asahi’s damp hair. “Thanks, by the way.” His voice was quiet.

Asahi furrowed his brows with the unasked question.

Noya’s smile was soft, the sweet one he sometimes had after sex. “Really wanted to try that.” He looked up finally, golden eyes shining. “Thanks for...I dunno, for being willing to try?”

Asahi swallowed hard. “S-sure. It was...I liked it.” He pulled Noya to him, not caring that the water was cool now. “I’m glad you want me to be the one you do new things with.”

Noya buried his face in his chest. “Sap.”

“You like it.”

“Mmm. Hey. Asahi?”

“Hmm?”

“You get to choose next.”

Asahi went still. “...next?”

Noya looked up at him. Already his hair was starting to stand up straight again. “The next new thing. I’m up for whatever you got.”

Asahi’s blush didn’t go away until dinner time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also...forgive me if this showering scene is overly Americanized with the hygiene practices and tools and logistics that I'm used to :P Let's just keep handwaving at all the very non-Japanese things I've written.

**Author's Note:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr
> 
> [Marcella Christie](http://marcellachristie.com/) for my alter ego


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